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Electronics disposal service looks to make city greener
More than a truckload's worth of old and non-functional electronics were recycled Aug. 4 in the city hall parking lot.
By Conner Hammett, chammett@acnpapers.com
Allen residents helped make the city a little greener this month at the city's quarterly electronic waste collection in the city hall parking lot Aug. 4.
More than 250 people in all showed up for the program, which allows residents to drop off old and non-functional computers, appliances and other electronics for proper disposal and recycling.
The program is a joint effort between the city's Keep Allen Beautiful campaign and Cyclone Aluminum and Steel, an Azle-based company that comes to Allen four times a year to collect and recycle electronic devices.
Electronic waste, or “e-waste,” accounts for less than 4 percent of solid waste in the United States. However, increasing production – and decreasing lifespans for new products – have caused e-waste to grow two to three times faster than any other waste stream. Many electronic components also contain hazardous materials such as lead.
This month's collection yielded a slightly higher volume of e-waste than the last, a development Mattle sees as encouraging.
“It’s very promising,” she said. “People are more educated now, which tells me I’m doing my job.”
Steve Sekula was one of the many residents who came to city hall to donate their electronics.
“I feel like there’s a lot of damage if you just throw [electronics] in the trash,” he said. “Instead, I’d like to know that its being handled in a responsible manner.”
Cyclone recycles all collected materials on-site at their shop in Azle. Their recycling process removes all metals and recyclable materials from the devices before sending any remaining waste to the landfill. Any recyclable materials are then re-fabricated or sent to a manufacturer or other recycling facility.
Donna Kliewer, waste services manager for Keep Allen Beautiful, said the city first started collecting electronic waste in 2006 through the curbside Household Hazardous Waste pickup service. Within two years, the volume of materials left by citizens had surpassed the ability of pickup staff, causing the city to instead hold quarterly recycling drives in designated collection areas.
“Most people want to do the right thing by disposing of e-waste through recycling rather than in the landfill,” Kliewer said. “I like to think that the city is forward-thinking enough that they are providing a service to all our residents to do just that.”
The service, which is provided by Cyclone for a fee, is paid for by a 57-cent monthly charge on each resident's water bill.
“Although the common perception is that recycling pays, the reality is that recycling costs money,” Kliewer said. “It is just like anything that you throw away. It costs money to have someone take it away or if you take it away, it costs money to put it into a sanitary landfill. Recycling pays, but the payoff is in the conservation of natural resources, the conservation of energy use, and the saving of water and reduction of air pollution.”
Cyclone first began working with the city in 2002 for the Great American Cleanup event, which is held in the city every April.
“They were the first e-waste collection business that were open to the concept of a drive-through, drop-off event with absolutely no idea of how much material that they would collect or how this would work,” Kliewer said. “In a word, they were ‘adventurous’ and were open to partnering for this event.”
Cyclone will be collecting electronics again Nov. 6 for Allen Recycle Day.
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