Nearly 13,000 metric tons of e-waste were diverted from provincial landfills in 2023, equivalent to 2.3 kilograms per person in B.C.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about any used electronics that have reached the end of life,鈥� explained Craig Wisehart, executive director at the Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA) and Return-it.
He pointed out that there is a marked difference between what鈥檚 reusable and what should be recycled.
鈥淚f your laptop still works but you have a new one the best thing to do is give it to your kids or donate it to a charity. When it鈥檚 dead and gone that鈥檚 what we call e-waste, and that鈥檚 what our program is all about recycling that.鈥�
E-waste is less of a problem in B.C. compared to other parts of Canada and the U.S., where there is no dedicated recycling program, and end-of-life devices usually end up in landfills.
鈥淲hich can be problematic,鈥� Wisehart added. 鈥淭here鈥檚 lead in there, LED screens are backlight with mercury bulbs, cadmium in batteries, things that you don鈥檛 want leaching into the environment.鈥�
The EPRA has more than 300 Return-it sites across B.C. that accept e-waste.
鈥淵ou take your material there and we consolidate that and ship it to recyclers who break it down and get the iron, steel, aluminum and copper,鈥� Wisehart explained. 鈥淲e also make sure we collect the mercury and lead and all the other substances of concern and have that dealt with by approved processors.鈥�
As technology has improved, and consumer devices have gotten smaller and less bulky, potentially dangerous substances are less of a concern, Wisehart added.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still small amounts of some of that in new electronics. There鈥檚 also much less volume so even if it were going to the landfill, which it鈥檚 not, it would be a smaller amount of weight because the devices are so much smaller.鈥�
Wisehart said the EPRA鈥檚 core purpose is to recycle older electronics to keep them out of landfills.
鈥淚n 2012-2013, I would say 60 per cent of our volume, by weight, was TVs and displays with the old leaded glass. That鈥檚 maybe 30 per cent of our volume now.鈥�
More information about how to properly dispose of e-waste and find Return-it locations can be found on the .