County wants your e-waste
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June 6, 2019
Sanders County is helping residents with their annual spring cleaning. The E-Waste Event is set for this Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Thompson Falls Transfer Site.
The county will collect old electronics – including televisions, computers, printers and other items – for free during the event, which they have sponsored since 2014. While the disposal is free, the county does charge $5 for CRTs (the old, large TV and computer screens that have tubes in them) and for commercial printers.
Kathy Conlin with Sanders County said that the county has a three-year contract with Oreo’s Refining, which collects the e-waste and strips them down to the materials. “They even strip the copper from all of the cords,” Conlin said, noting that it’s hard to find vendors because the recycling industry is in such a slump.
Conlin noted that each year, the county fills up all of the trucks and trailers that the vendors provide. “They can’t believe how much we collect,” she stated. The first year, 2014, the county collected 19,587 pounds of e-waste. Last year, that number was down to 8,200 pounds. Conlin said that the amount collected lessens every year as people get rid of their old TVs and electronics.
The county asks that participants remove hard drives from their computers prior to the event, but Conlin said that it’s fine if people can’t complete that step of the process.
Each year, the county invites school districts to bring in their old electronics, challenging them in an e-waste competition. The school that brings in the most electronics is awarded a certificate from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Dusti Johnson, materials management specialist from DEQ, helps facilitate the e-waste event each year. Johnson will be featured on the PBS special "Trash Talk: Montana's Recycling Challenge," which will be shown Thursday, June 6, at 9 p.m. and Sunday, June 9, at 10 a.m.
Conlin said they see residents from across Sanders County at the event. If anyone has questions prior to the event, they can call 827-6942. The Sanders County Transfer Site is located at 269 Airport Road, just east of Thompson Falls.
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