Vermont ANR renews contract with NRRA for E-Cycles program

To sustain the momentum of the electronics recycling (E-Cycles) programâ s first year achievements, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources signed a renewal of a contract that began in July 1, 2012 with the Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA). With the contract renewal, NRRA will continue its administrative oversight of the Vermont E-Cycles Program through September of 2013. The first year target goal of 3,400,000 pounds was surpassed on March 20, 2012 and current estimates are nearing the 5,000,000 pound mark for the first 12 months of this new collaborative program.
Vermont legislation established the manufacturer-funded E-Cycles program to provide convenient and FREE collection of waste computers, monitors, printers, computer peripherals and televisions across the state. The legislation established a goal to collect 5.5 pounds of electronic waste per person, or 3.4 million pounds in the first program year (7/1/11 to 6/30/12). The program was launched July 1, 2011, and on the first day of springâ less than nine months into the program yearâ the Vermont E-Cycles program surpassed that expectation.
The success of the program is largely attributed to the convenience of having over 90 permanent collection sites across the state for Vermonters to choose from as well as many special collection events. Vermont residents, households, charities, schools, and small businesses with 10 or fewer employees have responded to the challenge of keeping banned electronic waste out of the landfills.
The Northeast Resource Recovery Association (NRRA) and its partners, the Association of Vermont Recyclers (AVR) and Good Point Recycling (GPR) in Middlebury were selected from a competitive State RFP process in April 2011. NRRA is a New Hampshire-based association with over 30 years of experience as a clearinghouse and valuable source of technical and marketing assistance in the general areas of waste reduction for the region. NRRA has an ongoing partnership with AVR which is a Vermont non-profit environmental organization established in 1982 as a grassroots effort to support recycling in Vermont. NRRA, AVR, and Vermont-based Good Point Recycling were chosen based on their ability to provide expertise and oversight to a very detailed-oriented collection and tracking process required for the State of Vermontâ s Manufacturer- funded E-Cycles Program. These three organizations worked collaboratively with the State, and collection locations to easily exceed the first yearâ s statewide elctronic recycling goal.