On Friday, November 11, a section of Zone 3 South lot (formerly Park Lot) was piled high with electronics for the 9th annual E-Cycle Day. From 6:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., University faculty, staff, and students lined up to drop off their unwanted, broken, and old electronics to be recycled. For many University employees, E-Cycle Day is a quick and convenient way to recycle their unwanted personal electronics. Steven Plane, a programmer with the University of Rochester Medical Center Information Systems Division said he “looks forward to E-Cycle Day every year.”
Representatives from Sunnking Electronics Recycling Company worked alongside volunteers from Delta Upsilon Fraternity and members of University of Rochester Medical Center Facilities Operations to collect unwanted personal electronics. Tyler Vasquez-Dorn, Delta Upsilon president, said members of his organization “enjoy helping every year.” As vehicles arrived, volunteers unloaded the electronics. Stacks of computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, microwaves, and other bulky items were piled on wooden pallets. Large boxes were filled with cords, cell phones, chargers, and other assorted small items. The pallets were wrapped in plastic and loaded along with the boxes into Sunnking’s truck, to be transported to their electronics recycling plant.
Sunnking’s Director of Community Outreach and Programs Cindy Jessop said, “Sunnking really enjoys partnering with the University of Rochester each year to provide students, staff, and employees with this service. People are always extremely thankful for having a place to securely and sustainably recycle their unwanted electronics.”
Sunnking’s primary goal is to recover as much of the material as possible for reuse. What cannot be resold as refurbished equipment or dismantled into parts for resale is recycled. Sunnking strives to be a zero waste organization. The company recycles cardboard and shrink wrap generated from its events, and has achieved R2 certification from New York State.
E-Cycle Day helps promote sustainability by diverting thousands of pounds of waste from ending up in landfills. This year’s event brought in a total of 28,132 pounds of material, which exceeded last year’s collection by about 1,500 pounds. Recycling electronics prevents material waste, energy waste, and avoids the leakage of harmful, toxic chemicals from the cast-off electronics into the ground, and eventually into the water supply. The event also raises awareness that the option to recycle electronics is available and effective. In Rochester, for example, ecopark is an electronics recycling destination for Monroe County residents to drop off their unwanted devices. If you missed E-Cycle Day or have more devices you would like to dispose of, ecopark and other local electronic recycling programs are a great resource!
Sustainability Coordinator Amy Kadrie would like to thank Sunnking, the brothers of Delta Upsilon (who have sent volunteers to the event for seven years in a row!), John Cushman from Horticulture and Grounds, and Dave Izzo, Ulysses Holmes, and Caleb Morrow from University of Rochester Medical Center Facilities Operations for their help during the event. Pictures of our volunteers at this year’s event are posted to the UR Sustainable Facebook page here.
Written by Alyssa Lemire, Class of 2017