On September 15, Sony began a new recycling program for all of their products at any Waste Management Recycle America LLC location. Sony now allows consumers to drop off their broken or unwanted DVD players, stereos, televisions, etc. at any of the 75 Waste Management Recycle centers across the United States for free. This article takes a look at that program, as well as other electronics recycling programs at other companies, and the reasons behind them.
The free drop-off will only apply to Sony products, and other manufacturer's products will be subject to a fee for drop-off. As other manufacturers follow Sony's lead, I believe that in the next few years more manufacturers will begin to offer free recycling for their products as well.
This partnership between Sony and Waste Management is the largest one of its kind. Sony says that within a year, the number of recycling drop-off centers will increase from 75 to over 150. Sony eventually hopes to have a drop-off center within 20 miles of 95 percent of the United States population.
Sony's president and chief operating officer, Stan Glasgow, has said, "Providing the highest level of service and support doesn't stop once a purchase is made. We believe it is Sony's responsibility to provide customers with end-of-life solutions for all the products we manufacture... Through the Take Back Recycling Program, our customers will know that their Sony products will be recycled in an environmentally responsible manner."
It's not hard to figure out why e-waste is on the rise. Ten years ago, a DVD player was considered a major purchase which may have cost $300-$400. Today, people are purchasing less-expensive DVD players for around $50-$100 (or even less), and because they are so inexpensive people are replacing them more often. Because many products are built "cheap" nowadays, when they break, people are just throwing them away instead of fixing them. In many cases it is cheaper to just buy a new one than to have the broken one fixed. This relatively new problem has created a dilemma for all of us -- where do we put all this new trash? Sony has taken a step in the right direction, but they still recognize there is a long way to go.
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