earth day electronics recycling drive 2023 details and faqs
Do you have old unwanted or nonworking electronics at your home or office? Or piles of old paper cluttering your space?
Load up your car and drive them over to the Integrated Building Systems office on April 21, 2023, for our 11th annual Earth Day Electronics Recycling Drive! This community event will be held from 8 am to 2 pm at 950 Michigan Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215.
Keep our environment clean
This event started with Integrated Building Systems clients asking about the best way to dispose of their old electronics.
Hazardous materials in e-waste, like lead and mercury, can leach out of landfills into groundwater. The batteries in electronic products also contain heavy metals that can leak into groundwater supplies once the batteries erode.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets regulations for how electronics can be responsibly recycled to avoid toxic waste. RenTek, the electronics recycler for this event, meets and exceeds these regulations.
Recycling your unwanted or nonworking electronics at our event and join Integrated Building Systems’ effort to keep our environment clean.
How the event works
Recycle at this event from the comfort of your car!
Collect your items from work or home, then drive them over for curbside drop-off. Drive north on Michigan Avenue toward First Avenue and follow the signs and flags. Stay in your car, and our team members will unload your vehicle for you!
Since 2014, Integrated Building Systems has partnered with RenTek for e-waste recycling services. RenTek is a licensed and bonded recycler with a purpose: to make the world a better place, one job at a time, by providing workforce development training for individuals with barriers to employment, including Down syndrome, autism, and other developmental disabilities.
There is no fee to recycle most items such as hard drives, laptops, keyboards, mice, cords, cables, and network devices. Fees are charged to cover the costs of processing hazardous material and excessive plastic. Please note: fees are only payable by cash or check.
View our event page for a list of what can and cannot be recycled as well as applicable fees.
Don’t forget about paper
In addition to e-waste, this event will also accept paper for free shredding. Integrated Building System’s paper shredding partner, Royal Document Destruction, ensures confidential documents are destroyed securely.
There is a limit of 5 banker boxes that can be dropped off per car. Accepted items include color paper, brochures, envelopes, legal pads, and even paper with staples, paper clips, or bindings. Make sure that your boxes are free of trash, batteries, excess metal, plastic, and cardboard.
Check out more details on our event page.
E-waste recycling FAQs
I’m concerned about data security on the devices I want to recycle. What is the process for data destruction?
RenTek provides electronic recycling for every type of business, from law firms and banks to medical centers and hospitals. These organizations have and continue to trust RenTek to securely erase the data on their equipment. Working hard drives are scrubbed with Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) software for a three-pass destructive data wipe. Working cell phones are reprogrammed to factory defaults and the memory cards are wiped, too. Hard drives and cell phones that are faulty or broken, along with any removable media (e.g., tapes, diskettes, CDs, DVDs) are physically destroyed.
Can I get a certificate of data destruction for the items I drop off at the recycling drive?
Certificates of destruction require a thorough documentation and processing of equipment, which is not possible to provide during this type of community drop-off event. Contact RenTek directly to learn about its process and fees for certificates of destruction.
What does my donation for autism programs support?
RenTek does not charge a fee to recycle most of the electronics collected at community events. Any donations made at a recycling drive support RenTek’s job-skills training program for people with developmental disabilities, including training materials, instruction, and essential tools like screwdrivers, drills, hammers, gloves, and goggles.
Why are there recycling fees for some items, like $2 for printers?
Many parts of electronic waste can be recycled, such as metal and certain types of glass and plastic. RenTek’s recycling fees help cover the disposal charges for parts that cannot be recycled, such as hazardous tubes from old televisions and computer monitors, non-recyclable plastic (which makes up the bulk of desktop printers, scanners, and faxes), and even the glass from CRT monitors.
What happens to reusable equipment?
Computers, laptops, and monitors that meet refurbishment standards are reconditioned by RenTek and sold to support its job-skills training programs. All other equipment, working or nonworking, is dismantled and properly recycled.
