Taking Steps Toward a Better Future Through Electronic Product Recycling

A joint initiative has been launched at Cape Breton University in response to federal legislation pushing producers to take more responsibility in the recycling of electronic products. 

The IT Services Department, CBU Sustainability and Facilities Management Team have come together to champion the electronic product recycling initiative on campus, which began with the recycling of institutional hardware. Now, after signing a contract with the Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA), a not-for-profit industry led organization that oversees a government approved electronics recycling program, the program is expanding to include public-facing post-consumer bins which will be located near the IT Services Help Desk. 

Though many alternatives for disposing of electronic products were available to CBU, the team behind this initiative was quickly and easily able to deduce that working with the ERPA is the most socially, environmentally and economically responsible choice for the University. 

“As an institution, the amount of ‘electronic waste’ CBU produces is not insignificant. Within the IT Services department, our first priority is to reuse any electronics we can,” says Allison Boutlier, Chief Information Officer. “One of the highlights of this program is our partnership with United Way Cape Breton, who have been able to utilize our PC donations to support multiple programs and community partners.”

As part of the CBU cyber security roadmap, the IT department has been rigorously searching for vendors to dispose of defunct equipment in a way that is both environmentally responsible and cyber security compliant. Through the University’s contract with the EPRA, these objectives can now be met.

This program allows CBU students and employees to dispose of unwanted electronics such as cell phones, computers, TVs, speakers, toasters, microwaves and more, in a responsible, environmentally friendly and cyber-safe way. It is important to note that not all computer hardware and electronics are candidates for donations, and those that fall out of the range of products accepted by the EPRA will be handled separately. Any electronics that have been issued to a CBU employee by the IT department, easily identifiable by the Property of Cape Breton University sticker, should be returned to IT for proper evaluation rather than disposed of on an individual basis.

“When it comes to electronics waste, the out of sight, out of mind, line of thinking just isn’t going to work anymore,” says Sustainability Coordinator, Adam Brown. “We can’t just sweep this sort of thing under the rug. IT Services have championed the responsible disposal of material in their own department for a while now and the new goal for CBU Sustainability is to support other departments and students in their transition to champion sustainable practices and change as well.”

To learn more about how you can dispose of unwanted electronics properly, please contact Allison Boutilier (allison_boutilier@cbu.ca) or Adam Brown (adam_brown@cbu.ca).