AUBURN - Some people want to recycle everything.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Tony Mason, left, and John Capwell stack an old TV on others at the home electronics collection event, sponsored by the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County, at the Auburn Landfill Saturday morning.
Tony Mason, left, and John Capwell stack an old TV on others at the home electronics collection event, sponsored by the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County, at the Auburn Landfill Saturday morning.
The back seat of Wayne Wolfgang's car was scattered with cardboard he intended to recycle, but Saturday he came to the landfill with a particular earth-friendly mission: To recycle an old television, a computer keyboard and two hard drives.
The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County Saturday collected home electronics at the Auburn Landfill for recycling. The event offered a safe way to dispose of items that often cannot be left at a landfill, but can be recycled.
“You know how Americans are - they're always buying the most up to date things because technology is always changing,” said Renee Jensen, an environmental educator for Cornell's Cayuga branch, who directed cars Saturday.
“Especially with this switch over from analog to digital TV, it seems to be there are more electronics being purchased,” she said, which means old ones must be disposed of.
But many electronics, televisions included, can not be dumped at a landfill.
“There's a lot of toxic metals in electronics,” said Bruce Natale, an environmental engineer for Cayuga County. In one television, there is between three and five pounds of lead, he said. Flat-screen televisions contain mercury. Computer monitors also contain harmful materials.
The cooperative's recycling events provide a safe place to get rid of old electronics they might not know what else to do with, he said.
By 8:15 a.m. Saturday, just 15 minutes after the drop-off opened, 35 people had already passed through, leaving behind stacks of televisions and computer monitors, boxes of cables, cords and hard drives.
“I don't believe in dumping,” said Nancy Wilde. The back of Wilde's pick-up truck was filled with two television sets, a printer, a toaster oven, a tuner, cords and a pair of rabbit ears.
Workers for Regional Computer Recycling and Recovery unloaded microwaves, game systems and DVD players from truck beds, back seats and trunks to be sorted and loaded into the company's tractor trailer.
The electronics will later be broken down into parts, said John Capwell, an RCRR employee who worked at the collection Saturday. Plastics can be melted down and sold to companies that use recycled plastics; the silver and gold found in circuit boards can be separated and sold for smelting.
The electronics recycling company travels all over for recycling events - they have three this weekend alone, Capwell said. Depending on the location, some events attract thousands of people. Other days, like Saturday, are somewhat slower - organizers expected no more than 200.
“That's still a good turnout,” Capwell said.
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 sarah.gantz@lee.net
The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County Saturday collected home electronics at the Auburn Landfill for recycling. The event offered a safe way to dispose of items that often cannot be left at a landfill, but can be recycled.
“You know how Americans are - they're always buying the most up to date things because technology is always changing,” said Renee Jensen, an environmental educator for Cornell's Cayuga branch, who directed cars Saturday.
“Especially with this switch over from analog to digital TV, it seems to be there are more electronics being purchased,” she said, which means old ones must be disposed of.
But many electronics, televisions included, can not be dumped at a landfill.
“There's a lot of toxic metals in electronics,” said Bruce Natale, an environmental engineer for Cayuga County. In one television, there is between three and five pounds of lead, he said. Flat-screen televisions contain mercury. Computer monitors also contain harmful materials.
The cooperative's recycling events provide a safe place to get rid of old electronics they might not know what else to do with, he said.
By 8:15 a.m. Saturday, just 15 minutes after the drop-off opened, 35 people had already passed through, leaving behind stacks of televisions and computer monitors, boxes of cables, cords and hard drives.
“I don't believe in dumping,” said Nancy Wilde. The back of Wilde's pick-up truck was filled with two television sets, a printer, a toaster oven, a tuner, cords and a pair of rabbit ears.
Workers for Regional Computer Recycling and Recovery unloaded microwaves, game systems and DVD players from truck beds, back seats and trunks to be sorted and loaded into the company's tractor trailer.
The electronics will later be broken down into parts, said John Capwell, an RCRR employee who worked at the collection Saturday. Plastics can be melted down and sold to companies that use recycled plastics; the silver and gold found in circuit boards can be separated and sold for smelting.
The electronics recycling company travels all over for recycling events - they have three this weekend alone, Capwell said. Depending on the location, some events attract thousands of people. Other days, like Saturday, are somewhat slower - organizers expected no more than 200.
“That's still a good turnout,” Capwell said.
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 sarah.gantz@lee.net
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