Also beginning in 2009, Oregon’s new e-waste legislation goes into effect, allowing residential households to recycle a limited number of their electronics (including televisions) for free. “We certainly expect some folks to wait until the legislation kicks in and the recycling becomes free” says Martin, “In the meantime, we’re here now for the folks who just can’t wait that long.”

Televisions can be dropped off for recycling Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. There is a charge of $1.00 per inch of screen, measured diagonally. (a 19 inch television costs $19.00 to recycle). Bear also accepts fluorescent light tubes for $1.00 per bulb. Most other electronics are recycled at no charge. Pickups are available for a $75.00 fee.

Bear eCycling is an environmentally sustainable electronics reuse and recycling company that provides e-waste management services for businesses in the Portland-Metro area. Services include pick-up, certified electronics recycling, certified data destruction, asset recovery and electronics recycling program design. Bear eCycling uses a process of intensive recovery that extracts the highest possible value from the discarded electronics. Bear eCycling’s model allows it to solve the e-waste problem in a way that is both good for the environment and creates living wage jobs. As a certified sustainable business, they use bio-diesel fuel in their delivery trucks, power their facility with “green” energy and employ many other green practices to reduce their impact on the environment.

Bear eCycling is the culmination of nearly a decade of electronics recycling research and development by Oso Martin, the founder of the non-profit organization Free Geek and a pioneer in electronics recycling practices and ethics. More information is available at www.bearecycling.com and www.freegeek.org. For more info on the national change over to Digital TV see: www.dtv.gov."