Hawaii’s new system for collecting old computer equipment and televisions is moving into high gear, three months after electronic companies began footing the bill. By forcing manufacturers to pay for the recycling of e-waste it suddenly made profitable operations like E-opala in Kalihi and Mr. K’s Recycling in Hilo, where discarded e-waste is organized, measured, inventoried and packed for shipping to Mainland and Asian processors.
Jason Gruver is owner and forklift driver at E-Opala on Mary St. in Kalihi. He was lifting eight-foot-stacked pallets into a shipping container where two workers pushed them into place. Gruver said even without advertising he’s already packed as many containers in three months as he did all of last year. He pointed out a waist-high collection of discarded computers, printers, televisions and even high-powered computer servers, which he said came in on Friday and Saturday. “Yeah, and it keeps coming,” Gruver said.
The new rules mean 50 percent of the new volume is printers and televisions, which weren’t covered at all in prior recycling programs, which meant consumers were often asked to pay to recycle old TVs. Meanwhile, in Hilo, Mr. K’s Recycling is the big collector. The new e-waste program is doubly important on the neighbor islands, where limited landfill space makes it urgent to get bulky and sometimes toxic electronics out of the waste stream.