The first truckload of discarded computers, televisions and other electronic goods was hauled away from the Caldwell County Recycling Center this week.
And the volume of items removed, said Solid Waste Coordinator James Oliver, is evidence of the need for such a program in the community.
The center has been accepting the electronic goods, or e-scrap, since the first of the year and recently contracted with an Owensboro company, GreenWorks Recycling, to facilitate their removal.
By the time the GreenWorks truck pulled out of the center, it had been loaded with 9,840 pounds — close to 5 tons — of electronic items.
“Probably, this is one of the best services we’ve done for the public,” said Oliver. “I’d a lot rather pack them down here than pick them up off the side of the road.”
In his time as the county’s solid waste coordinator, Oliver has seen his share of computers and TVs dumped at roadside, sometimes in abundance.
Now that the recycling center, open from 9-5 Monday and Wednesday and 9 to noon Saturdays, is accepting such items, there is no reason to dump them illegally.
GreenWorks officials, for their part, say their goal is to keep such material from landfills and other solid waste facilities.
The company, which reported recent successful campaigns in Daviess, Henderson, McLean, Union and Webster counties, includes as clients banks, hospitals, schools, government agencies — “everyone concerned with the environmental effects and potential liability of the irresponsible disposition of obsolete and surplus electronic equipment,” according to a letter from GreenWorks officials Bill Stewart and Robert Whittaker advertising the service to solid waste coordinators.
Once received, the electronic goods are evaluated and classified for recycling, destruction or reuse.
Computer hard drives can be shredded, with a certificate of destruction provided. For computers used in the medical field, the company can also provide certification that data was destroyed in compliance with HIPAA regulations.
The company, state approved and EPA-licensed, can recycle a variety of electronic items, including computers, monitors, TVs, cell phones, VCRs, DVD players, printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, cameras, microwaves, game consoles, rechargeable batteries, flourescent ballasts and all plastic.
The material, Oliver said, is often reused in innovative ways. Glass from TV screens, for instance, is recycled for use in laboratory beakers, he said.
Locally, the service has been utilized by Bremner, Special Metals and the Caldwell and Lyon County school districts, as well as numerous private citizens.
“It’s been a very, very good service to the people,” Oliver said.
The recycling center is located at Good and Eagan streets near the west end of Washington Street.
