NEIT joins Goodwill e-waste recycling effort

WARWICK – New England Institute of Technology is joining Goodwill Industries of Rhode Island’s e-waste recycling program.
The school is donating obsolete electronic equipment to the nonprofit so individuals enrolled in Goodwill’s 10-week training program can “de-manufacture” the items.
Under the direction of Jeff Polucha, grant manager for the Green Technology Consortium, which is funded by the Governor’s Workforce Board Rhode Island, NEIT is giving the items to Goodwill, a member of the consortium.
The e-waste recycling and training program accepts computers, printers, copy machines and most other items with an electrical cord.
“People hold on to old electronic items because they think they may be worth money, or they don’t know how to properly dispose of these items themselves,’’ said Ed Balasco, supervisor for Goodwill’s e-waste recycling and training program. “Our workers are trained to disassemble an item piece by piece and then separate each component to be recycled appropriately. We recycle everything except the dust on the floor.” •