Dell and Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey Launch Free Computer Recycling Service

Reconnect, a free computer recycling service from Dell and Goodwill Industries is available immediately for residents in the greater New York City and eastern New York State area.

• 31 drop-off sites in New York City and eastern New York State available
• New York becomes fourth statewide Reconnect program

Reconnect offers consumers free recycling for any brand of computer equipment in any condition. Consumers can find the most convenient of 31 drop-off locations.

Reconnect New York goals are: to divert 1.65 million pounds of used computers and computer equipment from area landfills over the next year; provide consumer education on the importance of environmentally-responsible computer disposal and support Goodwill’s job training and creation programs.

With the launch, New York is the fourth statewide Reconnect program. Reconnect launched in Western New York and the greater Rochester area earlier this year. Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and New Jersey has been a partner in Reconnect New Jersey since June 2007.

Goodwill will accept and sort the donated computer equipment and Dell's product recovery partner will recycle and remarket the recycled materials. Consumers are responsible for removing data from hard drives and other storage media before donating to Goodwill. Consumers can also request a Goodwill receipt at time of donation.

Dell leads the industry in providing consumers free and convenient computer recycling options. In 2007 the company collected 102 million pounds of IT equipment from customers, a 20 percent increase over 2006.

Background

Other Reconnect programs currently exist in:

• Austin, Texas (15 counties in Central Texas),
• San Francisco (Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties),
• the state of Michigan
• San Antonio (23 counties in Central and South Texas),
• North Carolina (49 counties),
• San Diego,
• Pittsburgh,
• the State of New Jersey and the City of Philadelphia,
• Houston (15 area counties),
• Northwest Ohio,
• Sandusky Bay Area, Ohio,
• Western New York State,
• the greater Rochester area, and
• the Commonwealth of Virginia.

With today’s launch, Reconnect offers 606 drop-off locations for free computer recycling to consumers in several U.S. markets.

Quotes:

Rex Davidson, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey said, “Goodwill is very pleased to partner with Dell to expand Reconnect to New York. We are committed to helping provide work for persons with disabilities, who will be employed to accept, sort and prepare the donated computers for recycling. The program has the added benefit of helping divert hazardous materials contained in unwanted computer equipment from our communities. Proceeds from the program will go to support Goodwill’s many human services programs.”

Joe Strathmann, head of product recovery services for Dell said, “Dell wants to make computer recycling easy and free for consumers and Reconnect helps make that possible. Reconnect is a win for consumers, a win for the environment and a win for communities, and we’re glad to work with Goodwill on expanding Reconnect to cover New York City and make New York our fourth statewide program.”