As NCAA® Final Four® Approaches in Houston, Local Residents Encouraged to Recycle Used Electronics at Free March 26 'Do March Right' Recycling Event

HOUSTON, March 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Houston residents will soon have an opportunity to get rid of old TVs, computers and other electronic equipment in an environmentally sound manner and free of charge.  NCAA® Final Four® Official Corporate Partner LG Electronics USA has joined forces with Waste Management Recycle America, the Official Sustainability Partner of The Big Dance Concert Series and Bracket Town, and the Houston Final Four Local Organizing Committee to offer a special eCycling drop-off event in an exciting pre-game warm-up to NCAA Final Four Week in Houston.

Houston residents are encouraged to drop off and recycle any brand of electronic products or computers between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at the Houston Reliant Stadium, home of the 2011 NCAA Men's Final Four, April 2-4.  (Reliant Park is located within the Inner Loop of the southern portion of Interstate Loop 610 between Kirby Street and Fannin Street; follow signs to the drop-off site.)

The event, a key sustainability project during NCAA Final Four week, is part of the LG Electronics Recycling Program, which is designed to provide consumers with a convenient way to dispose of their used, unwanted, obsolete or damaged consumer electronics products, consistent with LG's 2011 NCAA theme "Do March Right."

By teaming up with LG, Conn's, a long-time provider of appliance and electronic solutions to Houstonians, also is supporting the event. Every family that brings products to Reliant Park for recycling can save instantly at Conn's on LG-brand ENERGY STAR® flat-screen HDTVs. Shop at any of the 23 Conn's locations throughout the Houston area and take advantage of Conn's flexible financing programs that will help you "Do March Right."

The eCycling drop-off location will help make recycling of electronic products easy and convenient.  Residents don't even need to get out of their vehicles.  The eCycling crew members will collect all acceptable electronic products from trunks or pickup beds.  Products not acceptable for eCycling will be left in the vehicles.  

By recycling old electronic products, useful materials such as glass, plastic and metal can be re-used in the manufacture of other products.  Recycling electronics minimizes the amount of hazardous waste in the landfills and the extraction of new raw materials from the earth.  

"Houstonians are keen to recycle their electronic waste in responsible manner," said Patrick DeRueda, president of WM Recycle America.  "This special collection event provides a convenient solution, while demonstrating Waste Management, LG Electronics and the NCAA's shared commitment to providing leadership in environmental stewardship."

"LG Electronics is taking a proactive approach to helping consumers responsibly dispose of end-of-life electronics by joining forces with the NCAA and Waste Management to offer this free collection and recycling program to Houston residents," said Wayne Park, president and CEO, LG Electronics USA.  "We encourage consumers to take advantage of this opportunity to dispose of unwanted electronics in an environmentally responsible manner. Life's good when you live green," he said.

David Trahan of Conn's said, "This is a great time of the year for consumers to upgrade to a more-energy-efficient flat-screen HDTV besides benefitting from a fantastic viewing experience with a new LG TV. Responsibly disposing of old TVs and other unwanted consumer electronics products will help save energy and is good for the environment. Conn's is excited to join LG in encouraging area residents to Do March Right and take advantage of this terrific program."

The Houston recycling event coincides with the "Great American Cleanup," organized by Keep America Beautiful.  The 2011 theme, "Green Starts Here," is a rallying call that encourages civic leaders and volunteer groups like the Houston Final Four Local Organizing Committee to begin creating more sustainable communities through their efforts as volunteers, and through their daily choices and actions. It also reflects Keep America Beautiful's long legacy of waste reduction, recycling, beautification and community greening activities.

LG Electronics USA and Waste Management are National Sponsors of The Great American Cleanup and proud supporters of Keep America Beautiful, Inc., the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. To join the Great American Cleanup and let green start with you, visit www.kab.org.

The collection event will be covered by Greenopolis TV, and the video will be posted on Greenopolis.com along with the final results of the event.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more visit www.wm.com or www.thinkgreen.com.

WM Recycle America is a subsidiary of Waste Management and is the largest residential recycler in North America. WM Recycle America's business lines include processing many types of consumer-generated recyclables and finding the best markets for the recyclable commodities produced. In its capacity of providing processing and marketing services, WM Recycle America offers a wide variety of recycling options for municipal, manufacturing, commercial and residential customers.

About LG Electronics USA

LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a global force and technology leader in home appliances, consumer electronics ad mobile communications. In the United States, LG Electronics sells stylish, innovative home appliances, home entertainment (consumer electronics) products, mobile phones and business solutions under LG's "Life's Good" marketing theme. LG is a proud partner of the NCAA®.  For more information, please www.lge.com.

About the NCAA

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.NCAA.org and www.NCAA.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.  The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions — AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola —and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—Enterprise, The Hartford, Infiniti, LG Electronics USA, Lowe's, Planters, Reese's, Unilever and UPS.

NCAA, Final Four, and March Madness are licensed by or trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

SOURCE LG Electronics USA, Inc.