E-waste added to monthly recycling drop-off in Perrysburg Township
6/17/2013Perrysburg Township is going to accept electric waste on top of its regular recycling starting July 20.
The township collects recyclable materials once a month on the third Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the township offices at 26609 Lime City Rd., but this new program will expand what is accepted for drop off. It will now accept anything with a cord, or cordless, except for refrigerators and dehumidifiers. The new recycling service is a free and available for Perrysburg Township residents.
Township Recreation Director Bob Warnimont said township officials want to watch how things go in July, but if all is well then it may set up the service for year round. Recycle I.T. USA has been hired to take the discarded appliances, computers, and other electronics and sell and reuse the equipment. Computer or cell phone hard drives will be destroyed as those could contain sensitive information.
Recycle I.T. USA is an electric recycling collection agency located in Waterville.
Amanda Gamby, Wood County Solid Waste District's environmental educator, said there has been a huge growth in electronic waste, given the prevalence of cell phones, computers, and TVs. This service by the township will help reduce some of those discarded items from piling up in landfills, she said.
"There is tremendous [amount of electrical] material going through the waste streams with valuable metals," she said. "The more opportunities people have to recycle the better," she said. "So it is good they are tagging it on to their current recycling with its familiar location for residents."
Some equipment can be reused or refurbished, she explained, or sometimes it needs to be dismantled and reuse the valuable metals.
Mr. Warnimont said a lot of people don't know what to do with their computers so they'll smash them and throw it in the regular trash.
"My main concern is to keep as much as we can out of the landfill and reuse it," Mr. Warnimont said.
Contact Matt Thompson at: mthompson@theblade.com or 419-356-8786 or on Twitter at @mthompson25.