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Electronic recycling options available [Charleston Daily Mail, W.Va. :: ]
[August 17, 2014]

Electronic recycling options available [Charleston Daily Mail, W.Va. :: ]


(Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 18--Although Kanawha County residents can no longer take old electronics to West Virginia Recycling Services on Slack Street, there are several other ways to responsibly dispose of those items.



The Kanawha County Solid Waste Authority has compiled on its website a database of where various types of electronics can be recycled, from mobile phones to computers.

One of the more popular ways to recycle electronic waste in the county is during the county's cleanup events in the fall and the spring, Solid Waste Authority Director James Young said. Electronics are accepted at those events at no charge.


The three fall events are scheduled at Capitol Beverage in Sissonville Sept. 13, followed by the Go-Mart in Cabin Creek on Sept. 27 and the former Union Carbide property across from Dow Chemical in South Charleston on Oct. 11.

Several private businesses, like Staples, Best Buy and Radio Shack, accept certain electronics, though each has restrictions on quantity, type and size of items.

In addition, some municipalities, like Charleston, offer curbside electronic collection as long as residents contact the municipality's public works department beforehand. Private waste haulers are required by the West Virginia Public Service Commission to provide curbside electronics recycling for their customers at least once per month.

The Charleston landfill, operated by Waste Management, will also accept electronic waste, though a fee may be charged.

Alternatively, if an electronic is in good working order, Young said Goodwill in Charleston will accept donated items.

Young and Director's Assistant Emma Fisher both said televisions are becoming more difficult to recycle, both because of the size and because residents often strip valuable metals from televisions, reducing the item's value to the recycler.

"TVs have become the thing nobody will accept," Young said.

Last month, West Virginia Recycling Services owner George Hunyadi said his company would no longer accept electronic waste, citing financial losses incurred due to residents leaving junk at the property as well as residents stripping electronics before leaving them at the facility.

In addition, several thefts of electronics from Slack Street have occurred.

The new policy began Aug 1.

"What I've learned in the last 42 days is e-waste has really been a big problem for me," Hunyadi told the authority in July, adding, "It's just become such a pain." A detailed list of where individual items can be recycled is online at www.kanawharecycles.org.

___ (c)2014 the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.) Visit the Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va.) at www.dailymail.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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