Grand Rapids recycler aims to celebrate Earth Day with 250,000 pounds of E-waste

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Around Grand Rapids, a city that seems to grow ‘greener’ every day, this year’s Earth Day has become “Earth Week.” One local company, Comprenew Environmental, has established electronic waste (E-waste) drop off sites around the city with the goal of collecting some 250,000 pounds of electronics the company will recycle.

“We’ll recycle anything operated by a cord or battery, except major appliances,” says Lynell Shooks, spokesperson. “That could be alarm clocks, blenders, tape players, televisions, old phone chargers, old telephones—a lot of things. I have a bag in my car now with a toaster in it and my old cordless telephone that I’m going to recycle next week.”

Comprenew dismantles the electronics, recycles the plastics, metals and glass and sends them to local recyclers who help keep the raw materials in the local manufacturing community. Last year the company recycled 1.5 million pounds of E-waste, a 50 percent increase over 2006.

With collection sites around town, and by waiving the normal recycling fees, Shooks aims to make the process as easy as possible. And to keep it fun, she entered the Comprenew event in the EPA’s online Great Lakes Earth Day 2008 Challenge.

“If any local business wants to organize E-waste recycling, they can contact us and we’ll help them establish a program,” Shooks says. “There’s a lot of e-waste in residential households. We can’t drive around and knock on doors, but people go to work and we can help their employers set up a free program to make E-waste recycling accessible.”

Collection sites, dates and times:

• CA Frost Elementary School – thru April 18; the last day, students will dismantle and recycle computers on site
• John Ball Park Zoo – April 19, 10 to 3
• East Paris Business Association at Integrated Architecture, 9 to noon
• Fishbeck Thompson Carr & Huber, April 22, 11:30 to 1:30
• Comprenew Environmental, April 22, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. – drawing for a free recycled computer
• Pilgrim Manor – April 22, 1 to 3
• Covanta Energy, April 22, during business hours
• Van Andel Institute, April 16 to 22 during business hours

Source: Lynell Shooks, Comprenew Environmental

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Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at deborah@rapidgrowthmedia.com.