In October of 2021, we started our Electronic Recycling program to help reduce the electronic waste that went to our landfills. This program is available to our members and customers to provide a safe place to dispose of old electronics securely and without creating pollution. As technology progresses, so does our number of electronics. We see technology evolve and new products released everyday, but how to dispose of them safely is easily forgotten.

How It’s Going

We are now 20 months into our E-Recycling program and have collected over 15 tons of electronics from 338 community members. That’s an average of 1,500 lbs. of safely disposed electronics each month! TVs, computers, monitors, printers, and so much more are being reused instead of polluting our environment, creating a safe and clean environment for generations to come. We are so proud of our community’s adoption of this program and appreciate all efforts to reduce the impact of electronic pollution on the environment. We continue to provide this free service to our cooperative members and customers to ensure a better future and protect those within our community.

Electronic Waste is More Dangerous than You Think

One of the driving forces for creating this program was the staggering statistics we found when researching technology pollution. Electronic waste only accounts for 2% of trash in America’s landfills but is responsible for over 70% of all our toxic materials within them. Electronics take a minimum of 50 years to decompose, with some components estimated to take 1 million years.

As electronic devices have rapidly become essential to most households, we can expect a drastic increase in devices to end up in our landfills unless we work together to dispose of electronics properly. By recycling old electronics, toxic and harmful metals are kept out of landfills, and companies like our partners, First Choice, can repurpose them into new technology for the future generation to enjoy. E-recycling is an easy way to keep our Earth clean and free of pollution.

Preventing stolen data is another benefit of disposing of electronics safely through Electronic Recycling. Electronics such as laptops, tablets, and phones store our personal data. When disposed of improperly, a breach may occur, leading to the increased potential of a cybersecurity threat. Our partner, First Choice, is a registered recycler of the Wisconsin E Cycle program, certified by the National Association for Information Destruction, and has been certified in Environmental Management Systems, Responsible Recycling Systems, and Occupation Health and Safety Management Systems by Orion Registrar.

We utilize our partnership with First Choice to securely destroy all electronics. First Choice first extracts hard drives and crushes them and the components within to ensure data reconstruction is impossible. Then everything is ran through a shredder to be broken down and reused, meaning your data is never at risk. A certificate of destruction for your electronics is also available upon request!