A project led by UNF Enactus seeks to reduce electronics sent to landfills and these kinds of facilities by gathering used electronics around the Jacksonville community.
Led by Patrick Finnigan, the project will host a collection Nov. 24, the day after Black Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Sam’s Club on Beach Boulevard, where members of the Jacksonville community can come and drop off their old electronics of any kind, including television sets and computers.
He said he hopes to collect eight tons of old electronics this year. He said this is a reasonable goal because in previous years, he’s collected five tons, and there will be more collection sites.
From the collection, eCycle Security, a company created with the aid of UNF by student Juancarlos Villatoro, will take the goods. He said the company uses plasma gasification technology and other methods to make the metals reusable.
Villator said everything is automated and enclosed, so that there are no dangerous emissions and no dangers to workers.
And it costs nothing to donate the electronics to the collection or to give the goods to eCycle Security, Finnigan said.
Villatoro said he started the eCycle project for the first time about four years ago as part of Enactus.
This project will be submitted in a contest as part of the national Enactus organization for community outreach. UNF has been in the top 20 on the national level for the past eight years.
Finnigan said there is no limit to the amount UNF Enactus can collect, and the club will hold another collection in the spring.
Email Natalie Logan at reporter6@unfspinnaker.com.