Area residents offered at-home recycling program for electronics

At-home pickup program for SWANCC residents

The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County offers residents in its member communities a convenient way to recycle electronics without leaving their house. The Agency’s At Home Pickup Program is available for those who would prefer to have their materials picked up from the front steps rather than drive to a drop-off location. This program is available through September 2012.

Any SWANCC resident who has front-door access (no apartments or condos) can arrange for a pickup. Residents are charged $30 via credit card to offset program costs, and can recycle six items per pickup. A list of acceptable items is available at swancc.org. No individual item can exceed 50 pounds and televisions are limited to 27 inches.

On the scheduled pickup day, items must be placed on the front porch or steps, tagged with provided signage, by 7:30 a.m.

“SWANCC provides numerous collection programs to make it easy for residents to recycle old electronics. Under the new Illinois Product Recycling and Reuse Act, many electronics are prohibited from being thrown away, which keeps potentially harmful and recoverable components out of the landfills,” said Mary Allen, SWANCC’s Recycling and Education director. “Since 1999, through Agency-sponsored programs, over 4 million pounds of electronics have been recycled.”

SWANCC also provides four permanent drop-off locations and 10 one-day events. To schedule an At Home Pickup, call (847) 724-9205 ext. 203. For other electronics recycling options, visit swancc.org. SWANCC contracts with Supply-Chain Services Inc. of Lombard to recycle the electronics.

The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) is an intergovernmental agency that was established in 1988, and is comprised of 23 communities: Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Kenilworth, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Palatine, Park Ridge, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, Skokie, South Barrington, Wheeling, Wilmette and Winnetka.

SWANCC provides member residents a variety of waste reduction and recycling services, programs and resource materials. These include collections for special materials that cannot go into the curbside recycling cart or should not go into the garbage due to toxicity or recoverability, such as: computer and electronics, prescription drugs and sharps, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, mercury thermometers, holiday lights and batteries.

Visit swancc.org for more information.

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