2nd Annual WA Electronic Waste Recycling
September 4, 2009
In collaboration with METECH international Worcester Academy recycled over 4,000 pounds of electronic waste in the spring of 2009. In 2007, the U.S. “recycled” 500 million personal computers. Planned obsolescence of consumer products is a central problem to this consumption-waste cycle. Inherently, our current use of electronics is unsustainable. Further,”recycling” electronic waste is problematic due to a potential lack of transparency and enforcement and participation of international governance instruments such as the Basel Convention, as well as the sheer economic force of resource transfer, job creation, and profit potential between and within developing and developed nations. For more information about Metech and electronic recycling visit
Vermiculture Pilot Program
April 11, 2009
In beds of newspaper scrap and some starter soil (w/ sand for worm’s digestive system and to introduce decomposing microorganisms) food “waste” become worm food, which in turn becomes nutrient rich plant fertilizer. Above are photos of one of two vermiculture bins being used for the pilot program. Worms are fed nearly all food scraps except for animal products and they seem to like melons the most. The starter bin with newspaper will be converted within a few months to rich organic worm compost. The photo on the left depicts a processing tray in its last stages.
4,000 lbs of Electronics Recycling
May 15, 2008
In a collective effort the Environmental Club co-president, Steve Wright, Mr. Carroll’s Environmental Science Classes, members of the Maintenance Department, and Mr. Delaney filled up two school vans with over 4,000 lbs of T.V.’s, computer monitors, hard drives, and a long list of other electronics for drop off at MeTech International, a world leader in management and recycling of electronic materials with a 32 million pounds per year capacity, located along the historic Blackstone River.
In 2007, the United States placed an estimated 500 million PC’s (11 million tons) into the “waste” management stream. Metech performs reuse, recovery, and reclamation of parts whereby precious, ferrous, and toxic metals (cadmium, arsenic, lead, etc.) as well as plastic, glass, and cardboard are recycled, burned for energy, or isolated and manged as hazordous waste, The end result is a dramatic reduction in air/soil/water pollution, deforestation, strip mining impacts, and fossil fuel and energy consumption. For more information on Metech go to METECH and WAEnvironment
