Mar 13 2013
ECOvanta, the electronic waste ("e-waste") recycling subsidiary of Covanta Energy Corporation, today announced a new partnership with the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA) to provide e-waste recycling services for LCSWMA's Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility, located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
ECOvanta will transport the HHW Facility's e-waste, including computers, monitors, mobile phones, printers and televisions to its Philadelphia facility for dismantling, shredding or aggregating for reuse and recycling.
ECOvanta is among an exclusive group of national e-waste recyclers that hold both e-Stewards and Responsible Recycling (R2) environmental certifications, the industry's premier endorsements signifying responsible electronics disposal. The certifications recognize that the ECOvanta e-waste recycling facility fully protects human health, the global environment and security. ECOvanta is also ISO 14001:2004 certified and a member of the National Association for Information Destruction. In accordance with these accreditations, everything that comes through the facility is sold or recycled as a processed commodity.
"Covanta has been a valued vendor for the Authority for decades now, with operating our Waste-to-Energy Facility," says James Warner, CEO of LCSWMA. "We look forward to establishing another successful partnership with their e-waste division."
Covanta and LCSWMA have had a successful long-term partnership dating back to the early 1990s. As Warner stated, Covanta operates LCSWMA's Waste-to-Energy Facility, also located in Lancaster County, which processes 1,200 tons-per-day of municipal solid waste and generates 35.7 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. This new agreement for e-waste will ensure that the 1.3 million pounds of e-waste collected by LCSWMA annually is recycled responsibly and sustainably.
"We are very pleased to broaden our 20-plus year relationship with the LCSWMA with this new agreement to sustainably handle Lancaster County residents' e-waste," said Gordon Burgoyne, ECOvanta director of business development. "We share the Authority's commitment to providing responsible and sustainable management of municipal solid waste as well as e-waste and look forward our continued relationship."
E-waste is the fastest growing segment of the municipal waste stream in the U.S. with over three million tons of electronics generated each year, of which only 15 percent is recovered for recycling. The remaining e-waste typically ends up in landfills. However, because electronics can contain potentially toxic components, they should not be disposed of in the regular waste stream. In Pennsylvania, a new law called the Covered Devices Recycling Act prohibits residents from disposing of electronic devices in the trash.
Located in Philadelphia, PA, ECOvanta is a state-of-the-art recycling facility serving the e-waste recycling needs of communities, businesses and government organizations throughout the Mid-Atlantic, New York/New Jersey and New England regions. The facility properly recycles electronic waste such as computers, monitors, mobile phones, printers and televisions, safely managing end-of-life electronics using a combination of manual disassembly and an automated shredding system to separate materials into commodities for recycling. ECOvanta also offers secure destruction services for customers who require assured and certified destruction of their electronic equipment.