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 chris@commercialdistricts.com.
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.
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SOURCE Covanta