Green guilt about e-waste on the rise, survey shows

June 1, 2012
By Jeremy Carroll

Green guilt is on the rise, according to a survey commissioned by Call2Recycle.

The study shows that 29% of Americans admit that they should be doing more to help preserve the environment.

That is a jump from 12% responding the same way in 2009, said Call2Recycle, a rechargeable battery and cell phone collection program operated by the nonprofit organization Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation.

According to the survey, 57% of respondents said they have old electronics that they need to discard, 46% said they had cell phones to discard, 33% said they had computers to discard, and 25% said they had televisions that need to go.

There are barriers to recycling electronics, according to the survey results. A total of 44% of respondents said they did not know how or where to recycle technology and 19% said their local stores do not offer a recycling program.

"We see this as a positive," said Carl Smith, CEO and president of Call2Recycle, in a statement. "Whether due to the recovering economy or for other reasons, consumers are stimulated to think about the proper disposal of old electronics and conscious of the impact today's actions have on the state of our planet."

The survey, conducted by Toluna PLC, included 1,041 adult Americans, according to Call2Recycle.

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