Don't take your ecycling to Chicago Best Buys (yet)

One hundred seventeen Best Buy stores in eight states are to begin "a free program that will offer consumers a convenient way to ensure millions of obsolescent TVs, old computers and other unwanted gadgets don't poison the nation's dumps," according to AP Business Writer Michael Liedtke's story posted this morning on Yahoo! News.

Unfortunately, none of the Best Buy stores involved in the pilot program are in the Chicago area.

Lietdke writes, "Depending on how the test goes, the nation's largest electronics retailer may expand the recycling program to all of its 922 stores in the United States." Even with only a small percentage of the chain's stores participating in the pilot program, Liedtke says this test "is believed to be the most extensive free electronics recycling program to be offered by a major retailer so far."

Under the pilot program, consumers would be able to bring in "computer processors, computer monitors and televisions with screens up to 32 inches" but not "console televisions, air conditioners, microwave ovens and other large appliances." According to Lietdke's article, all Best Buy stores, even in the Chicago area, already accept "some electronics waste — such as cell phones, empty ink-jet cartridges and worn-out batteries."