Led by Apple, Best Buy, Dell and DirecTV, the consumer electronics (CE) industry set a new record in 2013 by recycling 620 million pounds of electronics in the US, more than double the total of three years ago, according to the Consumer Electronic Association’s Third Annual Report of the eCycling Leadership Initiative.

The 2013 US ecycling total is an increase of 35 million pounds over the 2012 level (585 million pounds) and more than twice the amount recycled in 2010 (300 million pounds).

The report also says:

• Apple, Best Buy, Dell, and DirecTV each recycled more than 125 percent of the consumer hardware recycling goals set by CEA for 2013.
• By the end of last year, more than 99 percent recycling by eCycling Leadership Initiative participants was conducted in third-party certified recycling facilities.
• More than 8,000 e-waste recycling locations are now available to consumers throughout the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

The eCycling Leadership Initiative has set a goal to increase the amount of electronics recycled to 1 billion pounds annually by 2016.