Area Rotarians sponsor electronic waste collection March 4-6
Local residents are urged to take advantage of a new recycling program designed just for unwanted electronics items, so-called e-waste. A plan to collect such e-waste from local pickup sites with the help of Rotarians of their communities is under way and is seeing initial success., mirroring over 12 years of the parent program by Blue Star Recyclers in Denver, Colorado.
The program employs those with disAbilities who may otherwise find difficulty in gaining employment. The capital A in disAbilities is intended, as the workers, many autistic, have proven to have the appropriate abilities for these jobs. A niche for such workers to find success and display dependability has thus been established, and society is gaining in the partnership.
It is estimated that a return investment of over $20 million has been realized in the Colorado venture through avoidance of unemployment payments and revenue from the recycling itself. Last year, the program there became self-sustaining.
Here, Blue Star Recyclers have located in a new facility in Buffalo Grove and a schedule has been established for local collection sites. Such events are now planned for March 4-6 in Long Grove, Hawthorn Woods and Kildeer, respectively.
Thus, the Rotary Club of Long Grove, Kildeer, Hawthorn Woods will serve as enablers for the program in those communities.
The Rotary Clubs of this district as a group have contributed toward a large pickup van to support this program, and clubs will be scheduling and co-sponsoring local efforts to collect and dispose of e-waste. Recent collections in Lake Zurich have been very successful with over 6 tons of e-waste saved from the landfills. The Rotary Club of Lake Zurich coordinated those pickup efforts.
Lyle Staab, Hawthorn Woods, who serves as the District Governor of this district, observed, “Since Rotary has a goal of supporting local charitable efforts, this is a perfect match with Blue Star.”
Background details of the program and the schedule for the near future may be found on the website EZElectronicsRecycling.com, and inquiries about contributions from businesses may be made there. More will be found on the website, RCLG.com, and at the Facebook page of the club.
Common electronics devices may be brought to the pickup points and residential pickups may be implemented, too. There is a modest charge for some waste, while most TV sets, cell phones and computers are freely accepted. A tax deduction may be claimed for most computers, servers and cellphones.
The planned collection sites and times are:
• Long Grove: March 4, from 9 a.m. to noon, in the Stempel parking lot off Old McHenry Road
• Hawthorn Woods: March 5, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Aquatics Center, 94 N. Midlothian Road
• Kildeer: March 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Quentin Collection Shopping Center, near the former Fresh Market, 20771 N. Rand Road
Local signs will direct you to the collection point.
For further information, see RCLG.org.