Garbage Centers Now Recycle Electronic Waste

Tag : stoves and microwave ovens
Computers, TVs, Among Items Now Being Accepted
By TOM YANCEY
Staff Writer
Greene County's 16 garbage collection convenience centers are nowaccepting electronic waste for recycling.
The first e-waste pickup was made Wednesday by a company that isworking with the county.
Hubert Metcalf, the county's solid-waste director, said ScottRecycling Inc. of Knoxville placed two large, heavy-duty cardboardboxes at each center several weeks ago, to accept "e-waste."
The company will be recycling "anything you can plug in the wall,"except large, console-model TV sets, Metcalf said.
Metcalf said Scott Recycling does not charge the county governmentfor providing the boxes or for transporting electronic waste, alsocalled "e-waste," from convenience centers to its recycling center.
"There's actually no cost to the county," Metcalf said, andrecycling e-waste helps the county meet state mandates.
Recycling helps the county meet its annual 25 percent wastereduction goal by keeping e-waste out of the landfill, and alsokeeps lead, mercury and other materials typically found in cathoderay tubes and other electronics from "getting into the wastestream" or into ground water, Metcalf said.
In addition to computers, radios, TVs and other electronicsequipment, the centers will also accept vacuum cleaners andmicrowave ovens, Metcalf said.
Tim Armstrong, the county's assistant solid waste director, said heplans to prepare signs to make the public aware that recyclinge-waste is now an option.
Even without publicity, Armstrong said Thursday morning that by thetime the 22-foot truck had made its rounds to all 16 conveniencecenters on Wednesday, it was full.

He said convenience center operators are already telling peopleabout the recycling opportunity, whenever operators notice someonestruggling to put waste that would qualify for recycling into agreen garbage collection box.
"Word's traveling," Armstrong said.
Scott Recycling will not accept large appliances like stoves andrefrigerators, sometimes called "white goods," but the countyalready recycles these items through a local foundry.
Dave Pittman, assistant operations manager for Scott Recycling,said in a telephone interview that the company's specialty hasbecome recycling e-waste, especially computers, but it alsorecycles or resells plastic, paper and metal.
"Nothing goes from here to the landfill," Pittman said. ScottRecycling is located in part of the old Levi-Stauss facility offCherokee Street, about three miles east of downtown Knoxville, hesaid.
The company has been in business for 10 years and works with anumber of cities and counties, including Sullivan, Sevier andAnderson counties, he said. The company also works with largebusinesses, hospitals and school districts, Pittman said.
He said the company reconditions computers and laptops "that aregood, or can be made good," when that is possible, offering themfor sale via the Internet and in a retail store at its EastKnoxville location. "We have some terrific deals on very good,reconditioned computers and laptops," he said.
Pittman said Scott Recycling has markets for various componentsincluding hard drives, memory chips, circuit boards andmotherboards, both as scrap and as working components.
Metcalf said Scott initially approached county officials aboutrecycling e-waste, and at first wanted the county to bring e-wasteto a central location where it could be kept dry. The countynegotiated the current arrangement, with Scott picking up directlyfrom bins it furnishes at convenience centers, Metcalf said.
Pittman said Scott Recycling contacts the counties it serves toschedule regular pickups, if the counties do not contact themfirst.
Since Wednesday was the first pickup day for the county, Metcalfsaid he has no idea how much volume ultimately will be involved.
Greene County's agreement calls for Scott Recycling to weigh thetotal and provide the county with records on weight, he said.
State Requirement
Metcalf said the state requires every county to either recycle ordivert 25 percent of its total solid waste tonnage, and recyclinge-waste will help with efforts already under way.
Last year, Metcalf said, Greene County picked up a total of 18,993tons of waste from its convenience centers.
He said the county recycled 654 tons of metal last year, plus 728tons of tires, 183 tons of cardboard, 345 tons of newsprint, 17tons of batteries, 9 tons of aluminum, 41 tons of plastic, and 42tons of used oil.
Greene County and Greeneville work together in handling waste andin meeting the 25 percent goal, Metcalf noted.
He said Greeneville has a large mulch program that contributessignificantly toward meeting the reduction/diversion goal.