Disposing of your old electronic equipment no longer means dumping it at the landfill, says Citizens’ Services Minister Ben Stewart.

“Over the holiday season, many people upgrade their televisions, computers and hand-held devices,” said Stewart. “But instead of tossing your old stuff in the trash, you can now recycle them at one of our two government warehouses.”

Since becoming an authorized Encorp Return-It Electronics Centre in late 2007, the Asset Investment Recovery (AIR) warehouses in Victoria and Surrey have diverted over one million kilograms of electronic waste from landfills. The warehouses dispose of items such as old computers, monitors, laptops, printers, fax machines and televisions.

In addition, the Victoria and Surrey warehouses offer use of “The Shredder,” a large machine that chews up data devices such as cellphones and hard drives, completely obliterating any personal information contained on them. The service is available to the public for a small fee – $2.00 or less – depending on the type of device to be shredded.

“The Shredder is a cutting-edge privacy protector,” said Stewart. “It prevents data from falling into the wrong hands, and since the materials are 100 per cent recycled, the Shredder helps protect the environment too.”

The Victoria warehouse is located at 4234 Glanford Ave. The Surrey warehouse is located at 8307 – 130th St. Both warehouses are open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.