Buffalo Grove eyes household pickup of electronics, hazardous waste

Buffalo Grove residents soon might not have to leave home to get rid of old paint, unwanted televisions, syringes and other hard-to-dispose items.

Instead, they would be able to contact the village's waste hauler, Waste Management, and have someone pick them up.

It is part of At Your Door Service, a door-to-door pickup of household hazardous waste and electronics that could be included in a new five-year contract between Buffalo Grove and Waste Management.

Contract options were discussed by the village board when it met Monday as a committee of the whole.

Community Development Director Christopher Stilling told the board the program would cost each household $12.60 a year. The typical cost of recycling a TV through Best Buy's Electronic Recycling Program is $25 if you bring it in and $100 if you want it picked up, he said.

Michael Brink, municipal marketing manager for Waste Management, said residents wishing to recycle a television or other item would receive a kit consisting of an envelope and plastic bags, then schedule a day for pickup.

On that day or the day before, the resident would place the item or items at the top of the driveway for pickup.

"About 85 percent of the material that we collect is recyclable," Brink said.

The process would take three or four weeks, which led Trustee Jeffrey Berman to question whether it would be too cumbersome.

"For the things that are generated on a regular basis - light bulbs, sharps, even household cleaners - it seems kind of odd that the process is so extended and so convoluted," he said. "Why don't I just put them in the toter? I don't want people to feel that they are better served by pouring kitty litter into the paint can and putting it in the toter."

But Trustee Joanne Johnson said it seems simpler than hauling items to a recycling event.

"I myself have gone to the recycling event, waited at least an hour in line and then been turned away because they couldn't take me, and I had drive over to Highland Park with a TV to recycle it," she said. "It would be well worth my money just to recycle one printer."

"I would use it once or twice a year, which would make that very well worth it," Trustee Eric Smith added.

Stilling said the program in Buffalo Grove could begin as soon as May.