2008 Strategies for Green IT at Penn:Desktops and endusers:ASU Questions

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We’ve gotten a request passed to us through the Sustainability Action committee from Arizona State University on e-waste at Penn. Questions are in boldface below. Here are a couple URL's that might be useful in answering the questions:


1. How are end-of-life electronic products (computers, printers, monitors, other peripherals) handled at your university? For example:

  • Donated to local organizations
  • Sold in an auction
  • Sold to individuals for reuse
  • Sold to refurbishers for resale
  • Contract local e-waste recycler for removal
  • Contract local electronic refurbisher for removal
  • Manufacturer take-back
  • Other?


Due in part to Penn's highly decentralized structure, these issues are handled differently across the various schools and centers at the university. Some of these include:


  • Donated to local organizations
    • Center for Community Partnerships, Bridging the Digital Divide - closed since January 2008.
    • Penn Communitech may take donations.
    • TeamChildren program provides low cost, refurbished computers to families, schools and organizations throughout the Philadelphia region. For several years, it has distributed, without funding or a full time staff, more than 6,000 computers obtained through the generous donations of volunteers. TeamChildren is currently offering approximately 1,000 refurbished computers. Contact: Robert Toporek, 610-666-1795, teamchildren@aol.com.


  • Sold in an auction
    • Classroom Technology Services
    • Donated to other departments at the university (this happens informally, often through offers made via mailing list of IT staff on campus)
    • Given/sold to staff for personal
      • Instructions need to be provided for proper disposal/recycling.
      • Offer a ‘take back’ policy for Penn purchased equipment.


  • Contract local e-waste recycler for removal
    • Recycling via Elemental, Inc.
      • Elemental is a Penn approved vendor.
      • Elemental says they have a less than 1% landfill rate, products are not recycled overseas and they are audited by Penn.
      • PENN/EHRS has visited Elemental. Contact Jim Crumley, jcrumley@ehrs.upenn.edu, in EHRS if you have questions.
    • At the School of Medicine, SOMIS does a "recycling day" every ~6mo
      • An Elemental truck comes to take any e-waste.
      • A separate pile is made for working computers (without HDs) which go to "Teamchildren".
      • Contact person for the recycling effort is jsball@mail.med.
      • A third pile has HDs/media to be destroyed by University Records Center.
    • SPO*TS - Space Planning & Operations, Tracking and Scheduling
      • Submit a Request to Have up to 5 Items (this includes computer equipment)
      • Computer equipment moved to a separate space and held for recycling
      • Contact your SOM building administrator or the SPO office


2. Does your university have any procurement policies that require manufacturers to take extended producer responsibility for end-of-life electronic products or that add front-end fees for electronic product purchase that support their end-of-life management? Are these policies mandatory or voluntary?

    • Ask Richard Beynon, UPenn Purchasing Technology Sourcing Manager, 215-898-1450, rbeynon@pobox.upenn.edu
    • DELL will only take back units sold to business or education for a fee.
    • Apple?
    • Lenovo?


3. Does your university have any policies or practices that require recycling of electronic products or materials domestically?

    • No required policies all recycling is voluntary.


Any additional information or resources you would like to share would be very helpful!


We'd be very interested in the outcome of this survey. If you're able, we'd love to see a copy of your final results.

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