Redemtech, an Ohio-based recycler, had collected enough equipment to fill half of a box truck as of 1 p.m. Thursday, midway through the event, said company President Robert Houghton. "We would expect about that amount," he said.

Redemtech typically serves large corporate clients, and the first e-waste recycling events at a company are generally "successful but modest," Houghton said. Subsequent events usually draw more people, he said.

Another goal of this first e-recycling event was to raise awareness of e-waste issues, Houghton said. Redemtech takes pride in refurbishing and recycling electronic products in the U.S., but about 90 percent of e-waste sent to U.S. recyclers gets shipped overseas, often to places where crude and unsafe methods are used to break down the electronics, Houghton said.

Last week, a group of lawmakers introduced a bill intended to limit e-waste shipments overseas, but two environmental groups said the legislation includes too many exceptions. In recent years, lawmakers have raised concerns about U.S. electronics shipped to China, India and other locations, where, in some cases, electronics are dismantled with hammers and plastic burned in pits.

The U.S. "has outsourced a tremendous amount of our electronics lifecycle," Houghton said. "These costs for proper recycling have been, in effect, externalized to the detriment of people in developing countries. We need to recognize there is a cost to proper recycling and make that part of the expense of using electronics."