Just 19 pc of electronics retailers have effective recycling plans

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Only three electronics retailers are making a serious effort to help consumers responsibly recycle their old electronic products, according to a new report card released by the Electronics TakeBack Coalition.

The Coalition is calling on the other retailers to step up and do their part to make it as easy to recycle as it is to buy electronics from them.

Staples, Best Buy, and Office Depot earned high marks on the report card, which graded the top 16 consumer electronics retailers' recycling programs in the country. But, more than half of the retailers flunked, including retail giants such as Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Sam's Club, and Sears, said a Coalition press release.

Barbara Kyle, National Coordinator, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition said: "Staples, Best Buy, and Office Depot are leading the charge to meet consumers' demand for recycling options, but there is a much bigger number of disappointing laggards who are selling us billions of dollars of electronics each year and doing nothing to help consumers recycle them later."

Some retailers offer trade in programs where consumers can get store gift cards equal to the value of their traded in products, which they must ship back to the retailer.

But the Electronics TakeBack Coalition doesn't view those as a substitute for recycling programs because most of the trade in programs only take the smaller, higher value items like cell phones and tablets, not the larger, low value electronics products, added the release.

"Consumers want to drop off their old stuff at a physical location, like a store," commented Kyle. "Most people just aren't going to bother to box it up and ship it someplace unless it's really small, like a cell phone. That's why we'd like to see more of these retailers step up and be the front door for recycling programs, in partnership with the manufacturer take back programs."

The report card evaluated the 16 retailers' programs against 20 criteria, including convenience, transparency, collection volumes, and responsible recycling.

Findings included:

* Only three of the retailers (19 percent) have effective recycling programs, meaning they take back all or most of the 13 categories studied and offer physical collection sites.

* Nine of the 16 retailers got F's (56 percent), because they either have no recycling program or they take back only one item.

* While all 16 retailers sell TVs, only two (12 percent)- Best Buy and Micro Center - take them back for recycling at their stores. Yet TVs are the items for which consumers have the most difficulty finding recycling options and will never mail back.

* Nine retailers offer trade in programs, but only two of them - Best Buy and Radio Shack - let you bring trade in items back to their stores. The others require consumers to ship their old products back to the trade in vendor for credit.

* Six of the 16 (37 percent) retailers are using certified e-Stewards for their recycling or trade in recyclers. The e-Steward standard is the highest in the industry, and does not allow vendors to export toxic e-waste to developing countries.