Doing the Dirty Work

When Lions Dale and Sylvia McClease began working with a local program to refurbish computers, they didn’t expect that e-

waste recycling would become one of their club’s most important programs. Now their Maple, ON club’s collection events, held on rotating weekends in the summer, can fill a 20-yard shipping container with electronics in just two days.

Discarded electronic devices are among the greatest environmental challenges, with over 50 million tons of e-waste disposed of annually. Electronic waste is often toxic, but it’s also a source of valuable metals like gold, copper, and palladium that can be used in new devices.

Collecting electronic devices serves many interlocking purposes for the Maple Lions Club. Some devices, especially computers, are refurbished for donations to help local community programs, families, and schools. Some are processed with the help of a local electronics recycler, who pays the club by weight; with so much e-waste collected, it’s “by far the biggest fundraiser our club does each year,” says Lion Sylvia. She stresses the importance of building relationships to the success of the program.

“We’re just a handful of people. The only reason we’ve been doing this more than a dozen years is that we’ve developed relationships and a reputation,” says Lion Sylvia.

Those relationships include one of the largest recyclers in Ontario, as well as local schools, who send students to work with the Maple Lions to fulfill their community service requirements for graduation.

The Maple Lions also partner with other Lions Clubs to help them start their own e-waste recycling programs by connecting

them to local waste processors. All together, Maple Lions have helped hold more than 30 collection drives in the past year.

A network of support is vital for an e-waste program, but so is public interest and trust. One of the biggest concerns people have about electronic recycling can be extremely personal: Is my identity safe once my device is out of my hands? The Maple Lions are sensitive to that. “With the customer’s permission only, we’ll wipe the hard drive,” says Lion Dale. “We guarantee data destruction.”

Recycling e-waste isn’t easy work: truckloads of bulky plastic and metal devices are heavy to collect and transport; printers routinely spill ink and toner. “It’s sweaty work,” says Sylvia. “It’s not glamorous work. It’s about what comes afterwards and that’s why we’re doing this. I don’t think this club would be what it is today without the e-waste program.”