What does the planet do with electronic waste? It’s a perplexing problem that is reaching unfathomed proportions. Certainly we need the electronic products…everything from computers to keyboards to printers, etc., but when they’re outmoded or no longer wanted, where do they go? What do we do with them?  Often they go into landfills and pose environmental threats by putting dangerous elements into the landfill that future generations will have to deal with. That does not bode well and must be dealt with.

A recent NSWCA meeting hosted by Greenlawn Water District Commissioners John McLaughlin, Bill Wieck and Jim Logan featured guest speaker and environmental recycling authority Mr. Philip Fava.  Mr. Fava is President and CEO of eGreen Recycling Management (Coram, NY) http://egreenrecyclingmanagement.com and former Co-Chair of NY Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI).  In stressing the importance of recycling he stated, “Our society produces incomprehensible amounts of recyclable waste, from ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal to plastic scrap, cardboard and paper, and precious metals. What happens to universal waste like batteries, light bulbs or e-waste such as computers, scanners and printers when they are no longer wanted? We must account for and recycle it all.”

Mr. Fava also zeroed in on electronic e-waste. “The importance of erasing hard drives securely and completely to remove all data from storage devices can’t be understated.” He noted that eGreen Recycling “provides detailed reporting of erasure and auditable, verifiable assurance that all data was sanitized in compliance with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and all other existing standards”. The meeting concluded with a lively question and  answer session.

L to R:  Andrew Bader, Ray Averna, Philip Fava of eWasteRecycling, Vin Abbatiello, Bill Schuckmann.