NO CRT TV's
We are NOT accepting CRT TVs and Monitors (the older tube-type)
We are sorry for the inconvenience.
This does NOT include flatscreen TV’s and Monitors.

Why Recycle E-Waste?

Electronic Waste or E-Waste Pollution
Electronic waste contains toxic chemicals and metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury, which when disposed in landfills could gain entry into surrounding soil and groundwater and ultimately end in us. A Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor can contains between four and eight pounds of lead alone. Big screen tube TV's contain even more than that. Flat panel TV's and monitors contain less lead, but many use mercury lamps. Up to thirty-eight separate chemical elements are incorporated into e-waste items. Some of the components of e-waste contain materials such as lead, cadmium, mercury, polychlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs), etched chemicals, and brominated flame-retardants that are hazardous in nature. Therefore e-waste should be handled in an environmently-friendly manner to prevent this hazardous material from polluting the environment.

Benefits of Recycling Electronic Waste
E-Waste contains hazardous but also valuable and scarce materials. Up to 60 elements can be found in complex electronics. Recycling raw materials from end-of-life electronics is the most effective solution to the growing e-waste problem. Throwing away our old electronics also means the loss of valuable minerals and electronic components that could be mined for reuse, such as gold, copper, metal, and plastic.

Prevent E-Waste from going into Landfills
When old electronics are thrown into a landfill, all the energy that directly or indirectly goes into making a product is lost. This means than more energy and water is needed to make new products, emitting more greenhouse gases and using more water. Thus landfilling old electronics also wastes the natural resources used to make a product. Some of the materials used in electronic products are extremely rare and are running out fast.

What happens to my electronics after I turn them into Yellowstone E-Waste?
Our team of employees carefully sorts and packages most of the electronics received for recycling in order to prepare them for shipment to one of our e-waste processors. We follow strict guidelines ensuring items are safely stacked and wrapped securely on pallets. They are then sent to a U.S. processor to be broken down into their component materials and prepared for reuse on the commodities markets. The recycling process separates CRT's and other equipment into component parts - such as leaded glass, precious metals, non-precious metals, plastics, and glass - and makes these materials available to manufacturers.

Some of the items collected at our facility (e.g. newer computers) may be refurbished and offered as used electronics.

How Big is the E-Waste Problem?
E-Waste is the fastest growing component in our waste stream! The category of "elected consumer electronic products" grew by almost 5% from 2007 to 2008, from 2.84 million tons from 3.01 million tons to 3.16 million tons. While it's not a large part of the waste stream, e-waste shows a higher growth rate than any other category of municipal waste in the EPA's report. Overall, between 2007 and 2008, total volumes of municipal waste DECREASED, while e-waste volumes continue to increase.

The EPA's most recent e-waste report (summarized in the table on the previous page) shows that we got rid of 2.4 million TONS of e-waste in 2010. (That's the latest year for which they have data)

Why do I have to pay to recycle some of my items?
Anyone used to dropping off traditional types of recyclables for free - or even getting paid for some metals such as copper or aluminum - may be shocked to learn that they need to pay to have some electronics recycled. Electronics are complex items made of many different materials mixed together. Responsibly recycling these items is labor-intensive and requires sophisticated equipment in order to break them down into their component raw materials.

It costs money to safely recycle most e-waste, so if a recycler is taking your waste for free it is either being exported or somebody is subsidizing the cost. If you live in CA, Maine, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Rhode Island, or Texas (computers only, not TV's), state laws provide funding for e-waste recycling (paid by the manufacturer, or in the case of California, by consumers upon purchase of new equipment.) Sometimes another corporate sponsor will pay for recycling. But if there is no clear sponsor paying for the recycling costs, then your old monitor, or TV, probably got exported to a developing country.

We try to keep recycling costs at a minimum so that everyone has the opportunity to participate in environmental stewardship. The other fees we charge are tied to other unique services we offer, including pick-up, full inventory, and data destruction.

What about e-waste exporting and global impact?
The Electronics TakeBack Coalition has an excellent article FULL of information about this topic. Go here to take a look.

People throw around terms like "carbon footprint," "environmental stewardship," "going green" and "sustainable living." What do those terms mean exactly?
Going green is a popular term used to describe the process of changing one's lifestyle for the safety and benefit of the environment. People who "go green" make decisions about their daily lives while considering what impact the outcome of those decisions may have on global warming, pollution, loss of animal habitats, and other environmental concerns.

Sustainable living involves limiting your use of natural resources and increasing self sufficiency. This is usually achieved by altering modes of transportation, conserving energy, changing one's diet, and buying locally produced items over imported items.

Read more: Definition of Going Green