New York – LG used a hotel/motel trade show here
Monday to announce a new facet to its e-waste recycling efforts, enabling hotel
operators to responsibly dispose of outdated televisions sets and computer
monitors.
The expanded
program continues to work with LG’s recycling partner, Waste Management
subsidiary WM Recycle America, to cost-effectively dispose of outdated
electronics equipment through more than 200 recycling reclamation centers
across the country. Although these centers have been open to LG consumer
customers for the past year, they will now begin to accept LG products from eligible
hotel and motel operators, the company said.
LG will also
assist hoteliers in working with WM to recycle the packaging from the new LG
flat-panel HDTVs and computer monitors being installed in their properties.
LG said that in
2010 alone, hundreds of hotels are expected to upgrade thousands of rooms with
energy-efficient LG flat-panel digital TVs, which will displace older analog
picture tube TVs.
“This program will
encourage hotel operators to dispose of outdated electronics in an
environmentally responsible manner,” stated Teddy Hwang, LG Electronics USA
president. This initiative “further supports LG’s global sustainability
initiative that also encompasses energy conservation, reduction of hazardous
substances and responsible product designs,” he noted.
Under the program,
hotel TVs and computer monitors collected at the drop-off sites will be
processed in an environmentally responsible manner at one of four regionally
designated Waste Management e-cycling facilities that are ISO 14001 and 9001
certified to protect the local environment in those communities. Waste
Management also observes U.S. Environmental Protection Agency R2 Standards
electronic waste management.
“As the lodging
industry seeks to increase its environmentally conscious initiatives, the LG
program gives hotel operators the opportunity to conveniently recycle
electronic waste responsibly and economically,” stated Patrick DeRueda, WM
Recycle America president. “This program also demonstrates our shared commitment
to providing outstanding customer service and leadership in environmental
stewardship as well as helping us towards one of our sustainability goals of
nearly tripling the amount of recyclables we process by 2020.”
LG’s Hwang
commented: “this means hotel operators, together with LG and Waste Management,
can do their part to improve recycling and reduce the environmental impact of
waste products. The explosive growth of electronics products over the years,
coupled with the rapid replacement of millions of analog TVs as consumers and
hotels upgrade to flat-panel HDTVs underscores the need for companies like LG
to help provide responsible end-of-life solutions.”
