From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Tuesday, September 14, 2010:
Instead of tossing that old computer or printer into the trash, Interior Alaska Green Star suggests that you take it to the annual Fall Electronics Recycling Event Sept. 24-25 at the Tanana Valley Fairgrounds.
Aged electronics of all sorts will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
There are small fees charged to offset the dismantling costs. One of the benefits is that the toxic materials in the old equipment are kept out of the landfill.
More than 115 tons of electronics have been recycled over the past four years through the regular Green Star recycling efforts. The total will go up next weekend.
“Items that will be accepted include: computers, monitors, laptops, printers, scanners, fax machines, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, cell phones, batteries, microwaves, answering machines, electric typewriters, and more,” says Andrea Miller of the local Green Star group.
If you would like to volunteer to help with this project, go to www.iagreenstar.org, call 452-4152 or write to info@greenstar.org.
If you are looking for reasons to participate, Green Star says that the volume of electronics is not the biggest disposal problem. The toxic elements are a bigger long-term threat to the environment.Many communities have banned the disposal of electronics in landfills to avoid pollution problems.
“For example, a typical desktop computer (hard-drive and 17? CRT monitor) weighs 60 lbs and contains 2 to 4 pounds of lead. Many monitors and TVs use Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) to produce sharp images. The glass screen in each monitor contains lead to shield the user from radiation produced by the CRT. Other toxic substances found in electronic devices include mercury, cadmium, copper, lithium, brominates flame-retardants, and phosphorus,” Green Star says.
“Fairbanks has a lined landfill for regular waste. The leachate that is generated is collected, tested, and if it passes disposal requirements is then pumped to the local waste water plant for disposal. Your groundwater is being protected, but e-waste can be better disposed of by recycling through local Green Star e-waste recycling events.”