Waste Management and Sony Electronics to Host Free Recycling Events in the Twin Cities
April 01 2008 - 3:23PM
PR Newswire (US)
Consumers can recycle old electronic devices and receive discount
coupons to attend EarthFest; Electronics recycling drive projected
to be the largest in state history MINNEAPOLIS, April 1, 2008
/PRNewswire/ -- As part of their ongoing efforts to help consumers
recycle electronic devices in an environmentally sound manner, Sony
Electronics Inc. and Waste Management (WM) Recycle America are
encouraging Minnesota residents to take action and recycle their
old electronics on Friday and Saturday, April 11th and 12th, from
9:00 am to 4:00 pm both days. The electronics recycling drive,
which spans five sites over two days, is forecast to be the largest
in Minnesota history. Waste Management and Sony Electronics, in
association with Best Buy, are sponsoring these recycling events in
honor of Earth Day. Locations for the event were carefully selected
to provide residents with the most convenient drop-off location
options. Each resident who recycles an old electronic device at one
of these events will receive a discount coupon to attend EarthFest,
A Party for the Planet, on the following weekend, April 19th and
20th at the Minnesota Zoo in Eagan, Minn. Minnesota residents will
be able to drop off their used electronics, at no charge, at any of
the following locations: Canterbury Park Racetrack Shakopee 1100
Canterbury Rd South, Shakopee, MN 55379 Minnesota State Fair
Grounds St. Paul 1265 North Snelling Ave. St Paul, MN 55108
National Sports Center Blaine 1700 105th Ave NE, Blaine, MN 55449
Grace Church Eden Prairie 9301 Eden Prairie Rd, Eden Prairie, MN
55347 Ecolab Schuman Campus (Saturday Only) Eagan Building F, 655
Lone Oak Dr, Eagan, MN 55121 All events are open from 9:00 am to
4:00 pm, Friday and Saturday, April 11th and 12th, unless otherwise
noted. More information about the events, including maps and a
complete list of acceptable materials, can be found at
http://www.wmtwincities.com/electronic. "We intend to lead the
industry in environmental stewardship by providing consumers with
end-of-life solutions through our "Take Back Recycling Program" and
these special electronics recycling events," said Mark Small, vice
president of environment, safety and health for Sony Electronics.
By working with Sony on these special events, Waste Management is
helping consumers properly manage their old electronics. "People
are seeking services to help them recycle electronic waste
responsibly and economically," said Julie Ketchum, director of
government affairs for Waste Management. "We hope to collect as
much recyclable material as possible through this free event. It is
our way of demonstrating a shared commitment with the community, by
providing outstanding customer service and environmental
stewardship." Waste Management has been collecting electronics in
Minnesota for more than 10 years and has the largest
electronics-recycling infrastructure in Minnesota, with 21
permanent e-waste collection sites across the state. "Waste
Management has unequaled experience with e-waste drop off events,"
said Joe Aho, senior manager of eCycling, WM Recycle America. "This
series of e-waste events will be the largest and most comprehensive
ever in the state of Minnesota, and the team is prepared to make
them event extremely convenient and easy for people who want to
recycle their used electronics." The amount of e-waste is on the
rise and managing the issue is becoming increasingly crucial as the
FCC-mandated switch to all digital TV signals in February 2009
nears. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, two
million tons of e-waste ended up in landfills in 2005, while only
about 380,000 tons were recycled. By recycling old electronics
products, useful materials -- such as glass, plastic and metals --
can be collected and re-used in the manufacture of other products.
The upcoming events are part of Sony's ongoing Take Back Recycling
program. Additionally, here in Minnesota Best Buy is providing
financial support and views these events as an extension of its
ongoing commitment to encourage consumers to take action with
e-waste. A complete list of permanent WM Recycle America eCycling
Drop-Off Centers can be found at http://www.wm.com/sony/ or by
calling 877-439-2795. About Waste Management and WM Recycle
America, L.L.C. Waste Management, based in Houston, is the leading
provider of comprehensive waste management services in North
America. Subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and
resource recovery, and disposal services. The company is also a
leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and
landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Customers
include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal
customers throughout North America. More information about how
Waste Management Thinks Green(R) can be found at
http://www.wm.com/wm/thinkgreen. WM Recycle America is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Waste Management and is the largest recycler in
North America. WM Recycle America's business lines include
processing many types of consumer-generated recyclables and finding
the best markets for the recyclable commodities produced. In its
capacity of providing processing and marketing services, WM Recycle
America offers a wide variety of recycling options for municipal,
manufacturing, commercial and residential customers. WM Recycle
America eCycling Services operates a national network of e-waste
processing centers, including Minnesota's only ISO9001 and 14001
Certified electronics processing facility. More information can be
found at http://www.recycleamerica.com/. About Sony Electronics
Sony Electronics Inc.: Headquartered in San Diego, Sony Electronics
is a leading provider of audio/video electronics and information
technology products for the consumer and professional markets.
Operations include research and development, design, engineering,
manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution and customer service.
Sony has played a key role in the development of Blu-ray, Disc(TM),
CD, DVD and Super Audio CD technologies, among many others. The
company is noted for a wide range of consumer audio- visual
products, such as the BRAVIA(R) LCD high-definition television,
Cyber- shot(R) digital camera, Handycam(R) camcorder and Walkman(R)
personal stereo. Sony is also an innovator in the IT arena with its
VAIO(R) personal computers; and in high-definition professional
broadcast and video equipment, highlighted by the XDCAM(R) HD and
CineAlta(TM) lines of cameras and camcorders, and the SXRD(TM) 4K
digital projector. The latest news and information is available at
the company's Web site at http://www.sony.com/news. DATASOURCE:
Waste Management CONTACT: Julie Ketchum of Waste Management
Minnesota, +1-952-736-2400, ; or Rachelle Arcebido of Sony
Electronics Inc., +1-858-942-4155, Web site: http://www.wm.com/
Copyright