The project from Goodwill, the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center and e-scrap processor Reworld has a goal to collect 500,000 pounds of e-scrap during its first year. | BluIz60/Shutterstock
Goodwill, the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center and e-scrap processor Reworld have added 42 free recycling sites throughout Pennsylvania, a state with a long history of electronics recycling access challenges.
The organizations announced the effort on May 7, explaining that it will add free collection at 42 Goodwill Keystone Area locations across the state. The sites will accept TVs, computers, gaming systems, mobile devices, some household appliances and more.
Electronics will be evaluated for functionality, the announcement added, and either sold at the Goodwill stores or sent to Reworld for recycling. Reworld, which recently changed its name from Covanta, processes e-scrap at a recycling facility in Philadelphia, better known as Ecovanta.
Pennsylvania enacted a manufacturer-funded e-scrap program in 2010, and recycling advocates have expressed concern about collection access almost since the start. Critics said the program’s initial use of sales data to determine manufacturer recycling obligations failed to adequately fund collection. It generated legislative interest – but ultimately no legislative changes – in numerous sessions including in 2016 and 2017 and again in 2022 and 2023.
The new collaboration was facilitated by the nonprofit Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center, which works to expand the use of recycled materials in the state. Bob Bylone, president and CEO of the organization, touched on the significance in announcing the project.
“In 2023, Pennsylvania had only nine e-waste recycling sites that would accept any electronic device for recycling at no cost, without limitations,” Bylone said. “The new program at Goodwill Keystone Area now includes 22 counties at 42 locations, approximately 45 percent of the Pennsylvania population.”
That means it’s a “six-fold increase in open and fee-free electronics recycling capacity in these 22 counties,” said Gordon Burgoyne, business manager of electronics recycling at Reworld, in the announcement.
The project has a goal to collect 500,000 pounds of e-scrap during its first year.