GREENSBORO, NC -- It is green week on 2WTK and we couldn't miss an opportunity to talk about recycling.


The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates waste management and remediation jobs will account for 455,000 jobs by 2022. So when you recycle, you're putting people to work.

Last fall, 2WTK partnered with Synergy Recycling for an e-cycling event. You dropped off 75,000 pounds of TV's, computers, phones, fax machines and more. So what happened to your e-cycled stuff? Megan Benham from Synergy Recycling explains.

"Some of the stuff we take apart by hand and some stuff we shred and it ends up in material like we have sitting out here: steel, circuit boards, plastic, copper, aluminum. pretty much any metal you can think of it gets shredded and separated into those metals."

The steel goes to a steel mill. Its made into sheets of steel to make cars and building materials.The computer circuit boards go to a refinery. And the plastics go to making new TV's, laptops and new phones.

"There's a lot of hazardous material in electronics, lead mainly and mercury, cadmium, beryllium. some really bad stuff you don't want leaching into the soil and to your water. So if you're recycling it, we are getting rid of every single component and it will be reused to make something."

2WTK has another e-cycle event planned for this fall. But if you can't wait-- every county has a free e-cycling drop off.

Find the the FREE E-cycling location in your county.

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