Northeast: Archbishop Ryan High School Recycles Unwanted Electronics

Students and faculty from Archbishop Ryan High School teamed up with Philadelphia’s first certified Responsible Recycler, eForce Compliance, to help reduce unwanted electronics equipment in the Northeast. The first-ever Ryan Recycling Day–Anything with a Plug–was  held late last month to both make the Northeast a little bit greener and to raise money for the school.

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Archbishop Ryan alumni and Northeast Philadelphia residents were able to recycle all types of electronic devices such as televisions, computer monitors and towers, VCR and DVD players, laptops, cell phones, microwaves, calculators, typewriters and other items. For every pound of electronic equipment recycled, eForce Compliance donated $1 to the Archbishop Ryan Student Scholarship Fund.

Chuck Panepresso, an Archbishop Ryan faculty member and the coordinator of the recycling event, was happy about the ways set up to ensure an easily accessible operation.

“All people have to do is drive up and drop it off. They don’t even have to get out of their car.” Panepresso said.

“We also have some faculty members driving out to houses of elderly people that may not be able to lift the appliances that they want to get rid of. Then eForce breaks it all down, weighs it and then donates the money back to us,” Panepresso said. “This way we’re helping people get rid of all that stuff building up in their garages and helping a family in need send their kids to school.”

With the help of the Archbishop Ryan football team, the electronics were unloaded from vehicles, divided into separate bins and then reloaded onto the eForce trucks. In addition, throughout the previous week, members of Archbishop Ryan’s alumni working at local businesses stopped by to donate heavier machinery. Before the drive-in event even began more than six skids of electrical equipment had been recycled.

Pam McPeak, the admissions director at Archbishop Ryan, said she was happy to be at the event to thank all the people of the Northeast Philadelphia community for supporting the recycling effort.

“Although a lot of these people seem to just be happy to be getting rid of some of their old junk, they really are making a difference,” McPeak said. “It’s great to see people take the time to come over with their stuff because in this economy every little bit helps.”

McPeak said she believes it is through events like the Ryan Recycling Day, that students show their true character.

“These kids want to give back,” McPeak said. “And whether it is with their strength and a friendly smile like in this case or any other form of community service, we believe this lays the ground work for these young students to become helpful, well rounded adults.”