LG Co-Hosts Denver Recycling Event

TWICE Staff -- TWICE, 9/14/2009

Denver - LG Electronics invited Denver residents to recycle their used CE products for free during a "Live Green" event held here over the weekend.

LG, in partnership with Waste Management and a local TV news show, encouraged consumers to recycle up to 10 items on Saturday at two area locations.

All home electronics products were accepted, regardless of brand, including TVs, DVD players, computers and peripherals, GPS units and mobile phones.

"We encourage consumers to dispose of unwanted electronics in an environmentally responsible manner," said Timothy McGrady, environmental manager at LG Electronics USA. "This is a cornerstone of LG's larger global sustainability initiative that also focuses on energy conservation, reduction of hazardous substances and responsible product designs. Life's good when it's green."

McGrady noted that CE products may contain toxic substances such as lead, mercury, beryllium and other elements that if improperly handled can be dangerous to people and the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 82 percent of the 2.3 million tons of old TVs, mobile phones and computer products generated in the last two years has ended up in landfills.

"By recycling old electronics products, useful materials - such as glass, plastic and metals - can be collected and reused in the manufacture of other products," McGrady said.

Mark Cornetta, president and general manager of LG recycling partner 9NEWS said, "We're pleased that 9NEWS can participate in an event that safely and responsibly disposes of outdated or nonfunctioning electronics. The heavy metals and other components from those electronics certainly don't belong in landfills. We applaud LG and Waste Management for their leadership ... in this groundbreaking e-waste event for our viewers."

Last year Waste Management adopted the Electronics Recycler's Pledge of True Stewardship for the dismantling and recycling of electronics waste. Signatory are required to prevent hazardous electronics waste from entering municipal incinerators or landfills; to prevent the export of such electronics waste to developing countries; and to provide visible tracking of e-waste throughout the product recycling chain.

LG's recycling contractor for mobile phones, Materials Processing Company, also is a signatory of the BAN pledge. Only 10 percent of sold mobile phones get recycled, and most people do not know where to recycle them, according to the EPA. To make the process as effortless for consumers as possible, LG is providing multiple ways for end users to receive prepaid mailers at their door step, including all supplies needed to return their mobile devices.

To participate in the "Txt 2 Recycle" component of LG's ecoMobilization mobile phone recycling program, consumers simply text "LGMOBILE" to 57895 to receive a postage-paid mailer. Consumers can also use their own packaging by printing a postage-paid label at www.ecomobilize.com.