We've been doing out homework!

Alex Simeone, Founder & CEO of ER&R, has become well-known in the community as a valuable resource on the evolving laws, regulations and possibilities for e-device recycling.

A word from the Founder

I know that a lot of people have seen the horror stories on news programs about E-waste recyclers exporting hazardous materials to other countries landfills. These companies have dishonored the good recyclers in this industry and have made it look like e-waste recyclers have no other choice but to export this hazardous waste.

ER&R Corp. a pending Non-Profit E-waste Recycler has been in business for 2 years and we have been looking for responsible e-waste recyclers the whole time. We have found companies in this country to recycle our e-waste responsibly. These companies must follow very strict laws on how they recycle hazardous waste unlike countries overseas. But there is a drawback; this quality recycling comes at a price. For every truck full of CRT Monitors and CRT TVs we send to our glass recycler. ER&R must pay the recycler $2500.00. To us it is a small price to pay to know that ER&R Corp. will never be a news story. And any company, or person that recycles e-waste with ER&R Corp. will never have to worry about their e-waste going to an overseas country to be thrown in a landfill, burned, and be uncovered as a serious hazardous waste problem.

This is what sets ER&R Corp. as a pioneer in hazardous e-waste recycling. We are overly consciences of how this industry works and that there is NO cutting corners when it comes to responsible e-waste recycling. No other company can compete with ER&R Corp. and how serious we are about saving this planet from toxins in the air, water, and soil.

Thank you

Alex Simeone Founder & CEO ER&R Corp.

ER&R exists to make sure these e-devices get recycled. How do we obtain and recycle these devices? *Free Drop off for most e-waste. *Free recycling and free donations to other non-profits *(Note – update summer 2009, those donating e-devices must call for an appointment) *(Free drop off for and recycling for PCs, Servers, & Laptops) *Borken CRT TVs are not being accepted as of 1/1/10.

Once I get an e-device, we test, inventory, and store it. All e-devices in good working condition are offered for sale via the website or our store at the recycling center in Stratford, at hugely discounted prices.

What we don’t sell will go to US approved recycling companies, reduced to the raw materials and sold that way. We do not want to send anything to a landfill. There are markets for everything electronic from plastic to copper and as a recycler I will take advantage of these markets to keep our water, soil, air and wild life safe.

What are some of the hazardous materials involved?

The biggest one and so far the worst is lead. Depending on the size of the monitor there is as much as 9 pounds of lead in it. Lead is a neurotoxin that directly effects brain development in children and fetuses- it is also the cause of high blood pressure, hypertension, heart attacks and premature death.

The new toxin called nitrogen triflouride or NF3 is a synthetic chemical used to produce microchips and flatscreen TVs. This chemical is a potent greenhouse gas with 17,000 times the global warming effect of carbon dioxide. It has a life span of 550 years and because it is so hard to detect, when it leaks during the manufacturing process it is not known if 1% or 20 % is getting into the atmosphere. Because of the surge in flat screen TV sales, the production of NF3 has exploded to 8,000 tons a year, the equivalent of more than 130 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Some of the other chemicals and compounds in e-devices are:

• Arsenic in CRTs • Antimony Trioxide as a fire retardant • Selenium & Cadmium in circuit boards • Chromium as a corrosion protectant • Cobalt in steel for magnitivity

This is why e-Device recycling is such a serious matter. We must do something now to keep as much of these chemicals and compounds out of the air, water, and soil. Now, not later!

Here are some facts from 2005. The EPA estimated that 1.5-1.9 million tons of e-devices were discarded in the US. If all sources are tallied the totals could reach 50 million tons worldwide! Of that, over 80% are dumped into landfills and as much as 150 million tons are still in people’s basements and attics.

Because this problem is so huge some states have set up their own laws, but the legislature has failed to mandate any U.S. wide laws requiring safe disposal of e-devices. They believe it’s up to the manufacturers to do something about it.

For more information on ER&R’s mission and programs please shoot me an e-mail anytime, I would love to hear suggestions and success stories.

Thank you.