Provincial Government Provides $60,000 for School Electronic Waste Recycling Project

For the seventh consecutive year, the Provincial Government is investing in a program offered through Computers for Schools, Newfoundland and Labrador, that allows for the safe disposal of broken and obsolete school computers.

“This year we are providing $60,000 to the Electronic Waste Recycling Project for Schools,” said the Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Education. “With 7,800 new computers brought into provincial schools under government’s 21st Century Learning initiatives, the demand to properly and safely dispose of existing e-waste from our schools is increasing, and this funding will be used to collect, package, transport and dispose of 12 tractor trailer loads of e-waste this year.”

The Computers for Schools program was co-founded in 1993 by Industry Canada and the Telecom Pioneers of Canada to refurbish computers and related equipment, donated by governments and businesses, for distribution across Canada for schools, libraries and non-profit learning organizations. The program also ensures computer systems are reused and recycled so that they do not end up in landfill sites prematurely.

“It is of the upmost importance that we continue to keep our electronic waste from ending up in landfills, and possibly in our water supplies,” said Boyd Summers, Chair of Computers for Schools, Newfoundland and Labrador. “Since April 2005, with the help of the Provincial Government, Computers for Schools has recycled more than 1.4 million pounds of electronic waste. This is the equivalent of 60 tractor trailer loads of potentially hazardous material which has been diverted from our landfills. We thank Minister Jackman and the Provincial Government for their continued support.”

For more information on Computers for Schools, visit:
www.computersforschoolsnl.ca/ . 

- 30 -

Media contacts:

2012 05 09             12:05 p.m.