Kane County Won't Take Electronics At Recycling Events After Being 'Bombarded'
(CBS) -- Kane County has decided to indefinitely stop accepting electronics waste at its recycling events but may resume in a couple of months.
Kane County Recycling Coordinator Jennifer Jarland says the county was inundated with electronic waste, especially TVs, last month.
"We were the only free option left and so it created a funnel and we were getting bombarded," Jarland said. "Thousands and thousands of cars coming to this one day, four-hour event, and it's unworkable."
"TVs are very, very expensive to recycle and there's not a lot of market for them and there's not a lot of value in them."
Those factors combined with manufacturers not having to pay to recycle more electronic waste than they do has led Kane County to its decision.
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If Jarland can find at least three municipalities to share in accepting electronic waste, Kane County will resume its electronic recycling event. She says that's a possibility for August.
But, she adds, if Kane County resumes taking TVs for recycling, it will charge for it.
"It's going to be $25 for TVs 21 inches and under and $35 for TVs 21 inches and over," she says.
Meanwhile, this Saturday, Kane County is still hosting its recycling event for all kinds of other non-electronic material, for instance bikes, books, fluorescent tubes, wheelchairs, crutches and packing materials such as bubble wrap, styrofoam and packing peanuts.
The event will take place at the county's St. Charles facility, 540 S. Randall Road, between 8 a.m. and noon.
In the meantime, Jarland says there are alternative recyclers who'll take TVs and other electronic waste and she says you can find out who they are at countyofkane.org/recycling.
You likely will have to pay a fee to recycle TVs.
