The DeKalb County Solid Waste Management Program along with the DeKalb County Farm Bureau will be sponsoring an Electronics Recycling Collection on Saturday.

From 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., DeKalb County residents can bring their electronic waste to the DeKalb County Health Department’s parking lot off Dresser Road at 2550 N. Annie Glidden Road.

Christel Springmire, DeKalb County solid waste coordinator, said in a phone interview Monday that DeKalb County residents with an ID can bring fax machines, cell phones, telephones, stereos, VCRs, DVD players, computers and peripherals, monitors, compact florescent light bulbs and household batteries to the drive.

She said there is a limit of two monitors per DeKalb County resident.

Springmire said the county has been having these drives since spring of 2006.

“We usually do two a year,” Springmire said. “We are thinking about doing three this year because of the digital TV conversion.”

The drive usually generates a large amount of electrical waste each time the county holds it.

“We usually get around 40,000 pounds of electronics,” Springmire said. “We usually get a ton of household batteries -- literally, a ton.”

Springmire said after the drive is over, a company takes the equipment and reuses the parts.
“We have a company from Pontiac, Ill. that takes everything back to their warehouse and tests ... the component computer parts and take out the working part and reassemble computers,” she said.

Springmire said the rest of the unusable electronics get melted down and recycled.

Containers will be provided for each of these items according to a press release.

The Solid Waste Management Program asks that residents bring household batteries in a zippered plastic bag. It is not necessary to sort batteries by type. Larger batteries such as “lead acid” will not be accepted.

Compact fluorescent bulbs contain trace amounts of mercury, which can damage our environment if not disposed properly.

According to the release, more than 1.5 million tons of electronic waste, TVs, monitors, computers, cell phones, batteries and more are thrown into American landfills and incinerators every year.

As a result, the toxins they contain, such as lead and mercury, could end up being released into the air and water.

The event is funded by the DeKalb County Solid Waste fund and is offered at no charge to DeKalb County residents.

Further questions can be directed to Springmire at 815-748-2408.

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