Chemical engineering senior Johnny Sompholphardy seemed surprised that the mint-condition Blackberry phone turned on without fail.

“Why would anyone throw this away?” he said.

The same could not be said for the majority of electronics people donated during UT’s third-annual eWaste Drive on Saturday.

Volunteers from the Student Engineering Council collected electronic devices donated by the Austin community, most in nonworking condition. Goodwill collects the excess televisions, laptops and other items to their electronic processing facilities, where working parts are salvaged and sold in stores. Nonworking items are disposed of within strict environmental standards.

“The main focus of the event is to ensure that electronics are disposed of properly,” said John Koenig, an electrical engineering senior. “A lot of people have no idea how to get rid of this stuff.”

The group has not calculated how many electronics it collected this year, but last year it gathered approximately 500 cars worth of materials.