Old televisions and computer monitors are heavy and loaded with toxic materials.
Next year, it will be illegal to put them in the trash.
A state law ramping into effect both prohibits the landfilling of many electronics and also makes it easier to recycle them. Pennsylvanians can recycle their old TVs and computers at no charge at some places.
Haulers and landfills want to get the word out and encourage people to drop off old electronics before the ban goes into place. Next year, mixing certain electronics, particularly those with screens, with municipal solid waste, will become illegal.
“We know many homes and business have old computer monitors or televisions in storage or in the basement,” said John Hambrose, spokesman for Waste Management, which operates the Alliance Landfill and Apex Waste Services. “We want to minimize the problems of this rule by getting out front and giving people options.”
Apex’s Dunmore facility has become a drop-off point for televisions, computer monitors, and all computer peripherals including printers and cables. Since Dec. 1, Apex collected 24 tons of electronics at its Dunmore facility and 13 tons at its Beach Lake location.
The incentive to divert e-waste from landfills comes from the state’s Covered Device Recycling Law passed in 2010. The law requires electronics manufacturers to have a recycling plan in place. If an electronics maker sells 100 tons of televisions in Pennsylvania, for example, they have to show they have removed 100 tons of electronics waste.
Source: RepublicanHerald
By David Falchek