Elgin Habitat ReStore no longer accepting electronics for recycling

Elgin residents looking to dump unwanted TVs and computers will have to trek a little farther to dispose of unwanted electronics.

Starting Friday, the Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley ReStore off Route 31 in Elgin no longer will accept electronics for recycling.

The store has been a drop-off site for the Kane County Electronics Program since August 2012.

"The ReStore electronics drop-off has been slated for closure due to the large number of TVs they are receiving from individuals, and possibly businesses," according to Jennifer Jarland, recycling program coordinator. "Unfortunately, due to sheer volume, ReStore is unable to physically store the TVs and electronic equipment until they are collected by the recycler."

Fox Valley area residents can continue to drop-off electronics between 8 a.m. and noon on the second Saturday of each month at 540 S. Randall Road, St. Charles, or at one of the permanent drop-offs sites at public works buildings in Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, and West Dundee.

Kane County is changing its electronics recycling program primarily because the manufacturer's weight goals, per state law, were set too low and recyclers are meeting those goals well before the end of each year, and the program can't handle the heavy volumes of TVs and monitors with leaded glass cathode ray tubes brought in for recycling, Jarland said.

They are "far exceeding projected volumes, and the cost of shipping and processing that material is proving financially unviable," she added.

The Electronics Recycling Act requires electronics manufacturers to financially support residential recycling programs for their products at end-of-life, and bans 17 electronic items from landfills.

Businesses have been taking advantage of the residential electronics recycling program instead of contracting with a recycler themselves, Jarland said.

Elgin Recycling, at 660 Schiller St., and other recyclers take business materials for a fee.

For more information on Kane County's recycling program, visit countyofkane.org/recycling, call Jarland at (630) 208-3841, or email recycle@countyofkane.org.