Recycling Electronics Doesn

Spring 2008 Household Chemical Waste Event Dates: Rain or Shine

Saturday, April 26 South County Shoppingtown

8am to 3pm South of Dillard’s & Sears Stores

(Enter on Lemay Ferry Rd., south of S. Lindbergh)

Saturday, May 3 Westminster Christian Academy-Town & Country Campus

8am to 3pm 800 Maryville Centre Dr. (south of Hwy 40)

(From westbound Hwy 40, exit at Maryville Centre Dr., turn left)

Saturday, May 17 St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley

8am to 3pm (on Pershall Rd. near I-270 & W. Florissant exit)

To recycle your used computer, consider using WITS (Web Innovations & Technology Services)

WITS St. Louis Administrative Offices:
647 E Holly Saint Louis Mo 63147

WITS St. Louis Drop-Off Recycling Center:

Open Monday thru Friday 8am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 4pm
643 E Holly Saint Louis Mo 64147

Directions-----------------------
Take 70W to N Broadway exit and make a left at light. Make immediate Right on POPE(by Mobil station) go 2 blocks to Prescott and make a right. Go 2-3 blocks to Holly and make a left. Look for the concrete building and pull up to Door with signs.

From 70E take the Ofallon Park Exit(243?) make a left at the top and cross over the highway. At N Broadway make a right. Go through the light(unless its red, then stop and wait) and make a left onto Clarence. Go 2 blocks make a right onto Prescott. Holly is next street on left. Follow down midway and look for signs on building

It's called e-waste or electronic waste. Every year there are tons of discarded computers, printers, scanners, fax machines, keyboards, and cellphones. The new models that seem to go on sale every day means more e-waste, especially when it comes to televisions .

In 2009, when analog signals go away for good, replaced by digital signals, many people are expected to replace old televisions with newer models. Environmental advocates say don't throw your old tv's in the trash; recycle them.

DCAL Services is an electronics recycling center located in Webster Groves. Its warehouse is full of e-waste, including an estimated 40,000 pounds of televisions per month, brought there for proper disposal.

"We've seen a 10 to 15% increase every year on televisions and the monitors," says DCAL owner Darrel Schmidt, "and we expect to see a 20 to 30%increase in 2008, 2009, and going forward."

It takes under 10 minutes to disassemble television. After disassembly, tv's are separated into plastic, metals, and glass.

Circuit boards are ground up into electronic hash. All those products will be sent to smelters for proper disposal or recycling into new products.

"For future generations," says Schmidt, "our water system, our air is being polluted and we need to properly dispose of electronics. In the glass you have lead, cadmium, mercury, that if it's in a landfill it basically leaches into our water system and pollutes it. You have high metal contents in your circuit boards that need to be disposed of properly."

Not all recyclers accept all electronic devices, so make sure your recycler will take your particular device. There is a cost for recycling some items. To learn more about recycling e-waste and find your nearest recycling center, go to the link below.