Newark Celebrates Earth Day With Free Electronic Waste Collection

NEWARK, N.J., April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- This Earth Day, Newark residents are once again encouraged to empty their cluttered closets, drawers and garages and bring their old electronics to a free e-waste collection event taking place, rain or shine, on Wednesday, April 22 at Peter Francisco Park, located between Edison Place and Ferry Street near Penn Station in Newark's Ironbound District from 7:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The first 50 participants will receive a free giveaway when dropping off their items. The event, now in its second year, is a partnership between private companies and public organizations that includes the Ironbound Business Improvement District (IBID); Covanta, a world leading sustainable waste and materials management company, and Panasonic; in cooperation with the City of Newark and Urban Renewal Corporation, a local not-for-profit emergency housing and social services organization.

Protecting the Earth from the improper disposal of electronic materials that may also be eligible for beneficial reuse or recycling is vitally important. Electronic collection events such as this one are an effort to increase the amount of electronics that are recycled, reducing the amount of electronics discarded in regular household trash, which, in turn reduces the need to mine more raw materials from the earth. In addition, many electronics contain components which can be hazardous in the waste stream and should not be thrown away.

Collected materials will be recycled at Covanta's electronic waste processing facility, an R2 and e-Stewards certified operation, and at Urban Renewal's Training & Development Center located in the greater Newark area and at their R2 facility in Philadelphia. Both entities provide data destruction security measures; however, it is recommended that residents wipe all data from their devices prior to dropping them off.

Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka commented, "Creating a sustainable Newark is one of the major goals of our administration. This year, we began the inaugural faith-based recycling challenge, involving 30 churches and faith-based organizations in our recycling programs. Supporting events like Earth Day and this Electronics Collection event are extremely important steps to creating a greener Newark. But it neither begins nor ends with our municipal efforts. We need to continue to crack down on illegal dumpers, as we are doing city-wide and in our Model Neighborhoods, we need developers to support green construction, and we need all of residents to support recycling, community gardening, and sustainability efforts, so that we can continue to transform Newark into a greener City we can all believe in."

"The businesses of the Ironbound District have been longtime supporters of the city's mission to make Newark one of the nation's greenest cities, and the April celebration of Earth Day makes this the perfect time to host this collection event," noted Seth A. Grossman, the IBID's Executive Director. "We are pleased to be a partner in this event that will help make Newark a cleaner and healthier place to live, work, or visit by providing a convenient and easy location to drop off your e-waste." 

Items that can be collected include, but are not limited to: computer laptops and desktops, monitors, mice, keyboards and peripherals, CD/VCR/DVD players, small home office copiers/fax machines, MP3 players, photo/video cameras, and more. Prohibited items include hazardous wastes/liquids, loose batteries, toner cartridges, fluorescent lamps, and appliances like washers, dryers, stoves, air conditioners, refrigerators, and space heaters.

"At Covanta we champion sustainable waste management and the 4Rs - reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover energy-from-waste. Recycling electronics properly is extremely important in protecting our planet and recovering valuable natural resources.  Properly disposing of electronics makes a positive impact on the environment," said Jack Bernardino, Business Manager of the Covanta Essex Energy-from-Waste facility in Newark. "As a member of the Newark community, Covanta is pleased to be working with these distinguished partners who are all deeply committed to making a difference in the lives of our fellow citizens."

"Panasonic is committed to building a nation-wide electronic product collection and recycling infrastructure.  We currently support over 1,600 collection sites and events across the country and recycled over 36 million pounds of e-waste in 2014," said David Thompson, Director, Corporate Environmental Department, Panasonic.  "We are also a proud participant in U.S. EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Electronics Challenge Program at the Gold Tier level, with 100% of used electronics recyclers certified to rigorous third-party recycling standards. Panasonic is pleased to partner with leading community organizations in Newark and Covanta to offer this collection event on Earth Day."

Lane Jacobs, CEO of Urban Renewal shared, "This event is an opportunity to help Urban Renewal with its mission of reclaiming resources, restoring lives, and giving back to the community.  Urban Renewal serves over 3,000 people a year including homeless, veterans and offenders, and our unique job training program provides computer technology skills that help folks successfully compete for jobs. Your e-waste will support our programs and make a difference in people's lives."

For Newark residents and business owners that need assistance in delivering their electronic waste to the drop off location, arrangements can be made beforehand by contacting the IBID. To schedule a drop off, or for information about pick up options on April 22 for your e-waste, contact the IBID's Operations Manager, Chris Bernardo, at 973-491-9191 or via email at [email protected].

For more information about other programs and services provided by the Ironbound Business Improvement District, please visit GoIronbound.com or follow the district on Facebook at Facebook.com/goironbound.

About Covanta

Covanta is a world leader in providing sustainable waste and energy solutions. The Company's 45 Energy-from-Waste facilities provide communities and businesses around the world with environmentally sound solid waste disposal by using waste to generate clean, renewable energy. Annually, Covanta's modern Energy-from-Waste facilities safely and securely convert approximately 20 million tons of waste into clean, renewable electricity to power one million homes and recycle approximately 500,000 tons of metal. Energy-from-Waste facilities reduce greenhouse gases, complement recycling and are a critical component to sustainable solid waste management. For more information, visit www.covanta.com.

About Urban Renewal

Urban Renewal offers responsible e-waste collection for residents, businesses, organizations, and schools.  Urban Renewal provides free pick-up in the region and can help you organize a collection event.  Proceeds support Urban Renewal's housing and job training programs.  For more information, or to schedule a pick-up, contact Lane Jacobs at Urban Renewal at 973-632-9343 or visit urbanrenewal.org 

About Panasonic Corporation of North America

Panasonic Corporation of North America provides a broad line of digital and other electronics products and solutions for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. In Interbrand's 2014 annual "Best Global Green Brands" report, Panasonic ranked number five overall and the top electronics brand in the report. As part of continuing sustainability efforts, Panasonic Corporation of North America relocated its headquarters to a new facility, adjacent to Newark Penn Station in Newark, NJ.  It is the first newly constructed office tower in Newark to earn both LEED Platinum and Gold certifications from the U.S. Green Building Council. Learn more about Panasonic at panasonic.com/pressroom.

SOURCE Covanta

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http://www.covanta.com