When batteries, electronics, and other potentially hazardous wastes are improperly disposed, they can harm public health and the environment.
Contact the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program at (612) 624-1300 for assistance with your management improvements, and visit the Hennepin County "Choose to Reuse" Directory, and the Minnesota Materials Exchange to find potential buyers for your used electronics and other waste. Also contact your own waste haulers to learn more about the services they provide, and consider joining the EPA’s free WasteWise program, which provides members with several benefits, including a technical assistance team that will help you to conduct a waste audit and reduce waste.
For listings of hazardous waste service providers near Minneapolis, visit Earth 911’s Business Resources directory and the Environmental Yellow Pages.
You may also want to consider incorporating language into future contracts with suppliers of electronics equipment, specifying that they take back these hard to dispose of products at the end of their use for recycling and environmentally responsible disposal.
Sample electronics take-back contract languageBatteries and electronic waste (e-waste) constitute one of the most important portions of an office waste stream to manage safely. Batteries and e-waste – such as computers, printers, and cell phones – contain toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. When they are thrown away in the trash, they end up in landfills, and these toxic compounds can drain into soils and waters, polluting lakes and streams and making the water unfit for drinking, swimming, fishing, and wildlife.
OSHA – Hazardous Waste