If you’re thinking about throwing out your old computer, television or video console, don’t do it. The piece of electronic equipment may be more valuable than you think, particularly if you live in La Crosse County, Wisconsin.
La Crosse County may change the way Americans look at Wisconsin. Instead of thinking about cheese and football, people will begin to associate the state with e-waste recycling.
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch said: “I don’t think everybody knows how advanced La Crosse County is. We’ve got a great program that’s moving forward. They’ve anticipated rather than reacted.”
What the county has been anticipating is a large influx of used electronics due to federal tax stimulus rebate checks and the February 2009 television switchover from analog to digital signals. People are expected to buy new and do away with the old.
Jeff Gloyd, Manager of the county’s Household Hazardous Waste Program, said: “I think we’re prepared for it.”
Gloyd stated that the program will most likely will take in 250,000 pounds of e-waste this year, and could serve “up to 5,000 residents.”
“Electronics were always on our radar screen,” Gloyd said. “We just had to make sure we had an infrastructure to support it.”
According to Gloyd, the county’s e-waste collection program, which launched in 2006, has proven to be highly popular for residents and businesses. After collecting the TVs and computers, the county strips them of their components and then sells them to a recycler.
“There aren’t a lot of county operations in the country that have a de-manufacturing process,” Gloyd said. “Maybe more county departments should do this.”
For more information, visit: www.co.la-crosse.wi.us/solidwaste/HHM.
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