New electronics recycling law starts September 1

OUTAGAMIE COUNTY - Throw that old TV to the curb? Don't even think about it.

Millions of TVs, computers, DVD players and printers are thrown out every year, filling up landfills and sending greenhouse emissions into the air.

Soon, that TV and many other consumer electronics will have to be recycled when a law banning electronics in landfills goes into effect September 1.

Chris Stevens works for Universal Recycling Technologies, a Janesville-based company that breaks down old electronics.

"It gets weighed up, and we put a tag on it. It gets put into storage and eventually gets disassembled by the components, plastic, metal, glass, wiring, and it all gets recycled," said Stevens.

Stevens is picking up a load from the Outagamie County Solid Waste Facility, one of many places people can take old electronics.

Other places include Best Buy, American, and Paper Valley Recycling Center. Often, people have to pay a small fee to get rid of their old stuff. Some people might just dump electronics anywhere, like a field or the side of a road.

"Unfortunately, you will still have some people who will do that," said Chris Miller, Recycling Coordinator for Outagamie County.

Miller says most people are responsible. That's because she says they see the consequences from throwing it into landfills.

"If they would leach into the ground water, it would be hazardous,” said Miller. “So we just try to keep them out of the landfill and take care of them properly."

Stevens says his job isn't just collecting, it's educating as well.

"Glass contains lead, plastics contain who knows what chemicals anymore,” he said. “So it's better for the environment, better for everybody around."