Electronics dumped at the parking area at the beginning of Mission Road

[alli4]

Just returned home from vacation and noticed the electronics dumped in the parking area. I did a search on the forums and didn't find a thread. What's going on?

[c_and_j]

i cant find the thread but they did the electronic thing again but the guy didnt have his trailer ( i think)

[alli4]

It looks awful! Hopefully whoever organized the dumping will be able to organize its cleanup soon.

[Willis]

Just returned home from vacation and noticed the electronics dumped in the parking area. I did a search on the forums and didn't find a thread.

It looks awful!

The two threads for which you were searching, alli, are HERE on our calendar (and in Upcoming Events) and the follow-up in General Chat HERE. I'd respectfully ask for a wee bit of slack in criticism. The e-cycling event took place less than 12 hours after the freak and deadly Derecho storm of 6/29. Billy Maddert of the Solid Waste Authority was unable to access the garage where the truck and trailer earmarked to store and cart away the unwanted electronic items were housed. The problem was exacerbated by the record breaking heat wave and Potomac Edison's inability to promptly restore power.

There was no time to cancel the event. AND the response was phenomenal given the prevailing conditions. It is a problem, I'll agree, not just from an aesthetic pov but people have continued to add to the pile even tho several loads have been removed as time has permitted. I'd ask you to please be patient. To say that conditions were extraordinary would be an understatement.

[alli4]

Sounds like it was a good idea. Hopefully people will stop adding to the pile and it will get cleaned soon.

[KatherineA]

Honestly, I'd rather "they" would add to the pile there, rather than dumping them along the creek by the storage sheds and at the river parking lots and anywhere else that the lazy bums usually leave stuff. At least there, the stuff can be easily combined with the rest of the recycling pick up stuff.

And yeah Alli a little slack please - and btw - those that DID the recycle effort were also those manning the MCC as a cooling station all week. (just in case you didn't know since you were on a vaycay).

[alli4]

I asked if anyone knew why the pile was there and it looked awful. After Willis explained I said it sounded like a good idea. I had nothing negative to say after learning the reason it was there. And really the only negative thing I did say was that it looks awful...because it does!

[cindylu]

Yes, it does look bad but I certainly agree with Katherine. Better there than in the river or any of the other places we see stuff like this dumped.

Considering this collection was held on the first day of the power outage is amazing.

[Willis]

Not to worry, Alli , I don't think anyone faults you for pointing out the messy situation. Sadly the delay in the final cleanup may be problematic for a time-not because of inaction by the Solid waste Authority, but it doesn't take long for Human mentality to set in that it'll be fine and dandy to keep dropping off the electronics in the commuter lot ad infinitum. That has happened time and time again when well meaning folks establish trash receptacles at, for example, public areas such as the boat ramp at Shannondale Springs.

FYI: The transfer station will accept electronics free of charge during business hours

[chipgallo]

Aye, there is a thin line between recycling and dumping.

[kkrapf]

Seems the best way to nip that in the bud would be to post signs for when the next recycling event will be held.

[LFE]

It would also seem that those involved with all the cleanups efforts around here are informed...

Hopefully those that hate seeing large piles from planned events also hate all the scattered crap around, will become involved and thus become better informed themselves.

[John]

Thank you Alli4! You were right to bring this up - it did look awful!

The recycling event was scheduled for Saturday June 30 - the morning after the big storm. The Solid Waste Transfer station was closed that day due to the power outage - so Billy was not able to get in to pick up the recycling truck. Rather than cancel the event at the last minute we decided to go ahead with it and just stack things up in the morning and get the truck when power came back on at the station.

By the time Billy was able to get back Sunday there was more electronics than would fit in the truck, so he took what he could and arranged to come back the next day. When he came back Monday the pile had gotten even larger and would not all fit in this third load!

At that point the old SWA truck just got tired of all the TV's and broke down. It took several days to get it repaired. While we were waiting for the truck that week, more and more electronics kept coming.

By the time the truck was repaired and the last load was hauled out we had collected 4 tons of electronics - and not a single item of regular trash or anything that could not go to the recycler.

[Tony]

not a single item of regular trash or anything that could not go to the recycler.

To expand on this, I wonder just what they do with these old units? A quick web search reveals nothing. I have this vision of a poor village in Bangladesh with broken CRTs steaming in the landscape interspersed with runny green slimy rivulets. And a sad looking kid with big eyes.

[Willis]

I have this vision of a poor village in Bangladesh with broken CRTs steaming in the landscape interspersed with runny green slimy rivulets. And a sad looking kid with big eyes.

I'm sure the answer has been expressed in another thread, but I was told by Mr. Maddert of the Solid Waste Authority that the grant that allows for the recycling includes a contract with the Federal Prisons System for the materials to be sorted and reclaimed by prisoners - I believe in Florida. Your mind's images were mine also, Tony, when I first heard of the recycling project. They have been replaced by adult inmates with big eyes.

[John]

The program is run by a division of the Federal Bureau of Prisons called "UNICOR". The Deputy General Manager of the Unicor electronics recycling program is Jefferson County resident and Shannondale.org user Todd Baldau.

I had visions of Todd overseeing the operation from a guard tower, with a twelve guage in hand and wearing dark sunglasses and a cowboy hat. He set me straight with the following url and a brief emailed description of the program:

http://www.unicor.gov/about/overview/

The electronic equipment and material collected at the MCC will go to the JeffersonCounty Solid Waste Authority (JCSWA). The JCSWA sends the electronics equipment andmaterial to UNICOR for recycling.

UNICOR is a component of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. UNICOR provides jobskills training and work experience to inmates in Federal prison. When the materialis delivered to the UNICOR factory, the inmates are trained to sort the material anddetermine if the item has market value. If the item does have value - inmates testit to determine if it's in full working order. The inmates perform any necessaryrepair and refurbishment work, and the item is sold for re-use. If the item does nothave market value, it is de-manufactured (dis-assembled) down to its base components(plastic, metal, precious metals, glass, etc) and sold as scrap.

UNICOR provides this service to the JCSWA for free.

UNICOR provides tremendous benefits to society, having recycled more than 40 millionpounds of electronic material last year. Inmates who participate in UNICOR aresignificantly less-likely to recidivate (return to crime) upon release than inmateswithout UNICOR experience. And by law, the program receives no tax money - - so itdoesn't cost U.S. taxpayers anything. It's truly a "win-win-win" program!

[Tony]

If the item does nothave market value, it is de-manufactured (dis-assembled) down to its base components(plastic, metal, precious metals, glass, etc) and sold as scrap.

So my vision of all this crap ending up in some poor country could very well be correct. I mean, none of those TVs were worth selling, so they strip them down. I'm sure they get a lot of good metal from the chassis, and maybe even some recyclable particle board or plastic from the cabinets (?), but the most toxic items - the CRT and PC boards - are worthless as scrap. So my original question still stands.

[androsyn]

So my vision of all this crap ending up in some poor country could very well be correct. I mean, none of those TVs were worth selling, so they strip them down. I'm sure they get a lot of good metal from the chassis, and maybe even some recyclable particle board or plastic from the cabinets (?), but the most toxic items - the CRT and PC boards - are worthless as scrap. So my original question still stands.

Well the biggest hazard of those old CRT Televisions is all of the leaded glass used in the picture tubes. An average CRT can easily contain several pounds of lead within the glass itself. I would imagine the glass from the picture tubes could be remelted and the lead recovered and the glass recycled. The actual PC boards themselves, at least some small amounts of precious metals can be recovered from the gold plating used. With that said, its not often most of us think about what actually happens to the items we discard once they're gone(out of sight, out of mind).

[chipgallo]

West Virginia has this on recycling. My latest computer, an Apple iMac, purports to be highly recyclable. There are also so-called "green" cars, TVs, computer monitors, appliances and so on that contain less or no environmentally toxic content. Typically this kind of design comes with a cost, but you can either pay more now or pay for it later in pollution cleanup.