With summer waning and school underway, it’s time to do a little fall cleaning and we’d like to help. The Richland County “Erase your E-waste” program is hosting its 9th annual fall collection event on Friday and Saturday, Sept 6 and 7th where area residents are invited to recycle their old, obsolete electronic products in an environmentally friendly fashion……for FREE!
The collection event is being held at the Richland County Shop, 2140 W. Holly in Sidney, across from the fairgrounds. Times for the event are 3 pm to 7 pm on Friday and 9 am to 3 pm on Saturday. Please note, the county shop is available for drop offs during event times ONLY, when e-cycler employees and local volunteers will also be available to help with loading and unloading.
Acceptable items for recycling include: computers and their components, printers, cell phones, TVs, fax machines, copiers, VCRs, stereos, gaming units and more. A complete list of acceptable items and a collection form that can be filled out ahead of time are also available at the Sidney ARS website at http://www.ars.usda.gov/npa/nparl/ewaste. Local businesses, agencies and organizations with large amounts to e-cycle are asked to make an appointment to drop off their items by calling Jackie Couture at 406-433-9422. Please leave a message.
This year the “E-rase your E-waste” committee has added a new e-cycler, Yellowstone E-waste Solutions, out of Billings, MT. “We opted to go with a new e-cycler this year, not because of any issues with our previous provider, but because we wanted to support development of a home-grown MT e-cycling industry,” E-rase your E-waste Committee co-chair Jackie Couture noted. “Our spring event, our first with Yellowstone, went very smoothly, so we’re pleased with the way things are working out. This way we can support a Montana business, and do it without impacting our primary goal which is to make e-waste recycling readily available for local residents.” Like the previous e-cycler, Yellowstone is providing their services for FREE.
The fall event is the final collection planned for 2013, Couture noted, adding that this year’s spring event held last May in Sidney and Fairview brought in more than 20,000 pounds (10 Tons!) of e-waste for recycling. “We’re hoping to do even better in September,” she said.
The “E-rase your E-waste” effort in Sidney is coordinated by members of the Richland County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), Richland Opportunities Inc., and volunteers with other community organizations including the RSVP program. Several local businesses, including Sidney Health Center, Lower Yellowstone REA and Sidney Sugars, have also provided aid and promotional support in the past, Couture said. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has also committed funds for advertising the group’s 2013 spring and fall events.
The city of Sidney, the Richland County Commissioners and Sidney Health Center have also provided significant financial support over the years in addition to allowing use of the county shop for collection events, while the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory in Sidney continues to provide significant organizational and promotional support.
While encouraging area residents to e-cycle, “E-rase your E-waste” organizers also noted that e-waste in Montana and North Dakota is not yet regulated and in many instances can legally be disposed of in local landfills, although some do charge a fee. However, because of the toxic substances contained in e-waste such as lead, mercury, cadmium and heavy metals that could cause serious environmental and human health problems, Couture says many individuals and businesses opt for e-cycling where available, even at added costs. And the great thing about e-cycling, she adds, is that 98.5% of e-waste materials can be reused in some other fashion, meaning longer landfill life as well as a healthier environment!
For more information, contact Jackie Couture at 406-433-9422 or Cindy Eleson at 406-488-3341.
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