Currituck County begins an electronics-recycling program today, more than a year ahead of a new statewide ban on electronic materials and products in landfills.
Electronic Recylcing
Under the program, county residents can bring the following electronic equipment to the Barco recycling center: computer hard drives, central processing unites, flat panel monitors, cathode ray tubes, printers, scanners, routers, servers, modems, hubs, switches, keyboards and mice. Residents can also drop off cell phones, electronic games, flat panel TVs and console TVs.
Brenda McQueen, administrator of the solid waste program for the Currituck Public Works Department, said such items will be banned from state landfills starting Jan. 20, 2011.
Currituck is getting a jump on the ban thanks to a $25,000 grant from the N.C. Division of Pollution and Environmental Assistance, McQueen said.
“(The grant) went for the purchase and installation of the building and the purchase of pallets, education, advertising and signage,” she said.
McQueen said the pilot program in Currituck will operate on Tuesdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Barco recycling center is located at 183 Shortcut Road.
One prime reason for the coming ban is that the electronic devices contain hazardous materials such as mercury, lead cadmium, beryllium and brominated flame retardant that officials are trying to keep out of groundwater. “We want to keep the bad stuff out of the groundwater and get the good stuff back out to recycle,” McQueen said.
The recycling company that will be collecting the discarded items is American Greenz, Inc., of Morrisville.
“Were trying to keep (the recycled materials) all in North Carolina,” McQueen said. Currituck officials are anticipating good participation in the pilot project, she said. “Everybody should want to get on board with this because we all drink groundwater,” McQueen said. “I think people will do right thing.”
Recycling electronics will also save the county money, she said. “Everything that is recycled saves the county $68 a ton, which is what it costs to carry it from the transfer station in Currituck to the Bertie County landfill,” McQueen said.
McQueen said the collection building will be kept locked for safety reasons, but there will be an attendant on duty to unlock the gate.
Currituck County officials are also co-sponsoring a recycling effort that collects household hazardous materials. On Saturday, the county, in partnership with the N.C. Department of Agriculture, the Currituck Cooperative Extension Service and the Clean Harbors Environmental Services, will host the collection drive at two sites: the Judicial Center at 2801 Caratoke Highway from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and at the Southern Outer Banks Water Plant at 734 Ocean Trail in Corolla from 9 a.m. to noon.During the drive, Currituck residents can dispose of batteries, paint, poisons and other household wastes at secure locations instead of in their household waste. McQueen said she is hoping for a good turnout.
“We’re going to try to do household hazardous waste cleanup every year, or a minimum of every other year, to try to keep people from putting this stuff by the side of the road and to get them to clean out their garages,” she said. “We’re trying to be proactive.”
Triangle-based American Greenz Inc (AGI) has teamed up with Currituck County for an electronic waste recycling program. Funding for the program, which is provided by AGI, is covered by a $25,000 state grant the county received to tackle electronics before North Carolina bans putting the potentially toxic waste into landfills in 2011. The items will be disassembled at AGI and none of the hazardous materials contained therein — mercury, lead, etc — will be exported.
Want to know more about recycling?
Recyclers recover more than 100 million pounds of materials from electronics each year. Recycling electronics helps reduce pollution that would be generated while manufacturing a new product and the need to extract valuable and limited virgin resources such as gold, copper, platinum and other metals. It also reduces the energy used in new product manufacturing.
For more information on Currituck County’s electronic recycling program, call 232-2504.
For more information on AGI, call (919) 481-0400 or visit americangreenz.com
