Focus On Electronic Waste At Third Annual Chatham RecyclingFest

by Tim Wood

            CHATHAM --- Is it time to get rid of those extra mice hanging around your office?  No, not the furry kind.  The point-and-click kind that no longer point, click or connect to your new computer.

            Bring them, along with any other sort of electronics that don’t work or have outlived their usefulness, to the third annual RecycleFest on Saturday, May 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the transfer station on Sam Ryder Road.

            The town’s recycling committee has hired Metech Recycling, a company that will not simply sell or ship unwanted electronics oversees, but will break down items and recycle almost all of the components, said Conservation Agent Kristin Andres, a member of the committee.  The company, which has a plant in Worcester, recycles 99 percent of most electronics, including audio components, small appliances, computers, monitors, drives, keyboards and mice.  They are listed by the Basel Action Network (www.ban.org) as a responsible recycler of electronic waste, she added.

            There will be a fee for dropping off electronics, but Andres said the group hopes to keep it at $2 to $3, much less than the $15 now charged for dropping off a computer monitor, for instance.

            “We hope to make it a bargain, but we have to cover our costs,” she said.

            It’s important to keep electronics out of the waste stream because they contain heavy metals and other potential contaminants which, if burned or put in landfills, could pollute, Andres said.

            The third RecycleFest will feature many of the same components as previous events.  Canvas shopping totes, compost bins and rain barrels will be available for purchase or order, and residents can exchange old mercury thermostats and thermometers for environmentally friendly electronic ones.  The transfer station’s mulch and wood chip pile will be available (take it away yourself, free!) and information on recycling and green living tips will handed out.

            The transfer station’s swap shop will also be open.

            New this year will be sail recycling through Sea Fever Gear, which recycles sails into various products.  Blankets and towels will be collected for donation to the Brewster Animal Rescue League, and clean usable linens will be accepted for donation to the Lower Cape Outreach Council. As in years past, members of AmeriCorps Cape Cod and local Girl Scouts will help out the volunteer members of the Recycling Committee, Andres said.  Music will be provided by Lisa and the Little Necks, who played at last fall’s Drop and Swap, and munchies will be courtesy of Late July Organic Snacks. Sweet Tomatoes will donate pizzas to keep volunteers fueled up.

            Unfortunately, plans for a mobile paper shredder to be on hand fell through.

            “We just couldn’t find a mobile shredder that could come,” said Andres.

            With many new companies working on ways to reuse things, the RecycleFest can only grow in the future, she added.  And there may be more added to this year’s event. Watch the committee’s website, www.chathamrecycles.org, for last-minute additions.

5/06/10