Friday, February 13, 2009

MORE FREE TV RECYCLING

MORE FREE TV RECYCLING

Recycle e-waste and hazardous waste on 3/7

JOHNSTON, R.I. (February 13, 2009) – On Saturday, March 7, Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation will hold a free collection for televisions, household electronics and hazardous waste. The recycling event will be held from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the Central Landfill in Johnston. The collection is restricted to Rhode Island residents.

Computers, televisions and other e-waste have been banned from landfill disposal as of February 1. Those products and household hazardous waste cannot be commingled with ordinary household trash and must be disposed properly.

“Many people upgraded their television sets because of the publicity resulting from suspension of analog TV signals,” said Mike OConnell, executive director of Rhode Island Resource Recovery. “It doesn’t matter how old the television is or if it’s in working condition or not. We will recycle all TVs free of cost.”

RIRRC also accepts all types of computer products, regardless of their condition. CPUs, monitors, printers, keyboards, laptops, hard drives, scanners, modems, and mouse devices are all eligible for disposal at the collection. Appointments are not necessary to recycle e-waste.

RIRRC's Eco-Depot is Rhode Island's only option for safe household hazardous waste disposal. Eligible products include oil-based paints, propane gas tanks, florescent light bulbs, and insecticides. Exposure to minute amounts of hazardous materials can be a risk to human health. Pets and wildlife are also susceptible to accidental poisonings when hazardous waste is discarded improperly.

How do you know if a product is hazardous? Look at the labels. If they have warnings on their labels such as flammable, combustible, explosive, or corrosive, it’s hazardous.

Appointments are necessary for the Eco-Depot but easy to make. Call 942-1430 x241 or sign up online at www.rirrc.org and clicking on the Eco-Depot logo on the right-hand side of the page.

Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation is the quasi-state environmental agency dedicated to providing the public with environmentally sound programs and facilities to manage waste. The agency helps fund and promote the state’s recycling program, and owns and operates the Materials Recycling Facility and Central Landfill in Johnston.