Kane County electronics recycling participation takes a big leap

By Paul Ploumis

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The Kane County’s re-launched electronics recycling program has reported robust collection volumes. The three daily drop-off sites have reported sharp rise in collection volumes beginning mid-September when the program was re-introduced in partnership with eWorks Electronics Services. It must be noted that the County had suspended the free electronics recycling collection program earlier this year, due to its inability to manage the huge volumes of TV's with cathode ray tubes coming into the recycling collection events.

According to officials, collection of electronic materials from the three drop-off sites totaled 109,778 pounds. A total of 1,424 residents used the drop-off facilities, they added. The Fabyan Parkway, Batavia site at 517 E. Fabyan Parkway, Batavia reported 943 visitors dropping off 73,884 pounds of electronics materials.

The other two sites reported comparatively less participation by residents. The South Elgin Old Public Works site at 735 Martin Drive, South Elgin collected 14,194 pounds of electronics, whereas the West Dundee Public Works drop-off location at 900 Angle Tarn, West Dundee received 21,700 pounds.

The County officials noted that efforts are already on to push the recycling collection numbers in the South Elgin and West Dundee drop-off locations, so as to make the recycling collection program viable for the recycling contractor. The efforts launched by the County and municipalities have started to yield results, they noted. During the first month since restart, 172 residents had visited the South Elgin centre. Nearly 100 residents have visited the site in the next two weeks. Similarly, the number of visitors has almost doubled in the West Dundee location during the two-weeks since mid-November. The county has already secured funding for 2017, said Jennifer Jarland, Kane County Recycling Program coordinator.

Residents are charged $25 to recycle TVs with screens 21 inches or less and $35 for screens 21 inches and over. All types of TVs are accepted, including flat-screens or glass tube sets. The electronic items accepted for free includes Cable & Satellite Receivers, Cables & Cords, Cell Phones / PDAs, Christmas Lights, Circuit Boards, Computers, Digital Convertor Boxes, Digital Recorders, DVD Players, Fax machines, Hard drives, Holiday lights, Keyboards, Mice, Phones, Digital Music Players, Printers, Scanners, VCRs and Video Game consoles.

The recycling program does not accept small household appliances, microwaves, toner cartridges, DVD’s, audio and video cassettes, large home appliances such as stoves, washing machines, refrigerators, freezers etc. Large stereo speakers, batteries and hazardous waste such as mercury-containing devices, thermostats, thermometers, smoke detectors, liquids and gases, fluorescent tubes, etc are also not accepted.

The Kane County Electronics Recycling Program is for Kane County residents and all residents of border towns like Algonquin, Elgin, Aurora, Montgomery, etc.) The program is for residential material only, no businesses. The County has appointed a number of electronics recycling companies to accept electronics waste from businesses.

The County had announced its decision to suspend its free electronics recycling program in June this year.