MOUNT VERNON, Ill. (July 14, 2015) - Ask Kaylin Largent how much waste was in the 2.5 tons of televisions, printers, coffee makers, computers and other tech that was saved from the trash at Rend Lake College's eCycling event last month. She'll say very little.
"None of the material is land filled. Everything is recycled down to the nuts, screws, bolts, and plastics," Largent said. She works for Commercial and Industrial Electronics Recycling, the company RLC turned to for the event. "C&I is just the first step in the recycling process," Largent added. "All equipment we receive is counted, sorted, and then separated by material. After the dismantling process it is shipped to various locations within the U.S to be broken down to commodity level. Since C&I is a certified recycling facility, it ensures our facility and all of our chosen downstream vendors adhere to strict principals."
Tyson Ellis, who heads up sustainability efforts at RLC, said he was happy with how local citizens came out for the event. And there's no doubt community members favored a free service to dispose of that broken 60-inch TV and obsolete VCRs piling up around the house.
Community members who contributed tech trash to Rend Lake College's recycling event last month generated 5,275 pounds of electronic waste. Pictured are, FROM LEFT; RLC's Sustainability CoordinatorTyson Ellis, RLC Maintenance Technician Rusty Downen; and Kaylin Largent with Commercial and Industrial Electronics Recycling. (Nathan Wheeler / RLC Public Information)
"I felt like we had a very good turnout," said Ellis. "We never went more than five minutes without a vehicle in the parking lot. There were different times around lunchtime that we had a small line, but it wasn’t for very long."
RLC Maintenance Technician Rusty Downen helped with the heavy lifting. Ellis stated that changes in law governing recycling CRT/tube TVs killed the event last year and probably kept donations down a bit this year. This would have been the fifth straight year RLC put on eCycling like this at the RLC MarketPlace.
"We are planning on getting back to having it annually in June so citizens can plan on setting aside their e-waste for it," Ellis said. "I feel that, as a community college, we have a responsibility to lead with events like this. I’m not aware of another e-waste event held in Jefferson County. It's definitely a service the area needs. Without it, most citizens would have to drive to Belleville, Carbondale or Evansville [Ind.]."
Ellis said many he talked to at the event had accumulated piles of e-waste without a plan for what to do with it until they heard about eCycling at the MarketPlace.
"These events not only allow us to engage the residents in our district, but it stirs thoughts about e-waste within the community," said Ellis. "The more aware we are about our responsibility to take care of the environment, the more progress we make in doing so."
