Many people found new mp3 players, cell phones, and other electronics under the Christmas tree last week. That raises the question of what to do with the old devices. While businesses are required to recycle electronics, there's little guidance for individuals. So they might end up throwing such items in the trash. The volume of electronic waste is expected to rise further in February, when thousands of people replace their old TVs.
Nearly 500,000 households in Wisconsin rely on rooftop antennas or "rabbit ears" to get a signal on older, analog TVs. Starting February 17 -- the date of the digital TV conversion -- those sets won't get a signal, unless they're connected to cable, satellite, or a converter box. Some people, like Norb Laskowski of Mequon, plan to buy new televisions.
Norb Laskowski: "I have one TV up north and two here, and I have two converters and I have a new TV ordered: HD, Sony Bravia, I believe it is."
Ann-Elise Henzl: "So what will you do with the old one?"
Laskowski: "Well that's a good question. I want to get rid of it before they put restrictions on it, you know?"
Laskowski suspects it'll soon become illegal to throw a TV in the garbage. While that's not the case now, it can be a hassle to get rid of an old set if you don't want it to end up in a landfill. Some resale stores aren't taking them. So the option people have if they want to recycle theirs is to take it to a recycling company and pay a fee of about $25.
The Department of Natural Resources is concerned that TVs will end up in landfills along with old computers and other electronic waste. "There are a lot of bad things in computers and televisions," says Dan Fields of the DNR's recycling program.
"A computer screen would have eight pounds of lead in it, this is not a good material, and we would like to see that recycled instead of sent into the trash," Fields says.
If you want an environmentally safe way to get rid of a computer you can drop it off at a recycling company. Some will take it for free; others will charge a fee. While Goodwill stores don't accept donations of old televisions, for the last year the stores have been taking donated computers. Matt Marino is manager of the Goodwill store on Capitol Drive. He points out a huge, chest-high box containing computer components.
"Usually twice a week it's filled. We get in tons of computer equipment, the CPUs, and all of our donors are just praising us because otherwise they potentially would have to go to their city public works yard. And now most public yards are charging," Marino says.
The monitors and keyboards are priced for sale and put on the shelves at Goodwill stores. The rest of the computer is sold to a company that breaks it down, separating the plastics, precious metals and other materials that can be used again.
So far Goodwill has kept 1.7 million pounds of computer components out of landfills. But still electronic waste keeps flowing into them. That's because technology evolves so quickly that devices become obsolete.
State Sen. Mark Miller of Monona understands the rapid turnover. So he wants people to have more options for getting rid of their old items. He's written a bill that would create a free statewide electronics recycling program. Electronics manufacturers would pay to have their old products recycled.
"It could be done either through curbside pick up or through places where you can drop off your electronic equipment and it would go through a licensed recycler. The valuable materials would be sorted out and made available for resale. All the toxic materials would be removed so that there's no threat to human health. And that's how it works," Miller says.
Miller's proposal would not solve all the state's electronic waste problems. For instance, the recycling program would not accept smaller items, such as cell phones or mp3 players. Miller says that's because he had to be realistic and create a program that would be easy to manage.
"Small electronic devices are just hard for people that pick up the trash to see and collect, and there's already in place a fairly good recycling program for cell phones through the places that sell them," Miller says.
Miller says he has bipartisan support, as well as backing from both the business and environmental communities. So he's expecting easy passage of the bill. Still, he says the measure would take about six months to implement. So Miller hopes people who have old, large electronics piling up in their basements will let them stay there a bit longer until they can be recycled for free.
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