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Contra Costa County, Calif., Residents Drop Off E-Waste

Posted on: Monday, 1 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

Aug. 1--ANTIOCH -- The lines were so long at the Contra Costa County fairgrounds Sunday, you would think they were giving away computers instead of taking them.

It was a giveaway of a different sort as Environmental Electronic Solutions, a state-certified collector of electronic garbage, took unwanted computers, monitors, televisions, fax machines, video players, telephones and other communications equipment off people's hands for free. The state-funded free drop-off, called Got E-Waste?, continues today from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The lines wound along 10th, 11th and L streets as employees ushered vehicles one by one into rows in a vacant lot where others unloaded the vehicles and put the equipment onto pallets, which a forklift operator loaded into a big rig.

"It's been like this since 7:30 a.m.," said usher Ronald Molina.

"This is definitely more material than we were expecting," said E.E.S. co-owner Jake Cherry. "It's not the number of cars; people are bringing more material."

By 1 p.m., employees had dispatched four truckloads. Cherry said he expected to collect about 250,000 pounds of e-waste Sunday.

Avery Colter of Bay Point had been in line for an hour when he got to unload at 12:30 p.m., but he thought it was worth it, if only for the environmental benefits.

"A lot of people have electronic waste lying around," said Colter, who contributed a videotape player, DVD player, television and a few "ancient" computers. "This puts it into the recycling stream."

"Nobody takes this stuff," said Paul Branson of Oakley, speaking of old computers that accumulated in his garage. "I can't take it to the dump. You can't donate these things. I used to give them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill, but they don't take it anymore."

Dumps, transfer stations and recycling facilities that accept e-waste charge too much, many of Sunday's discarders said.

"It costs $25 a pop at the dump," said Dale Kalmpach of Oakley, "so it's worth waiting for 45 minutes."

E.E.S. takes the equipment to its San Leandro yard, said Cherry, who noted each entrant's name and address and collected a signature.

"The state wants to be sure that all of this stuff comes from California and that people aren't driving in from Nevada," he explained.

In San Leandro, crews separate the material and send it to different destinations, depending on the ingredients. About 98 percent, mostly metal and plastic, is recycled, he said.

Much e-waste is hazardous, and it often ends up in the environment if it is not disposed of properly.

Computer monitors are heavy because they can contain five to seven pounds of lead, which shields against radiation, Cherry explained.

To save money, people often put their e-waste in a garbage bag and bring it to the landfill, or dump it illegally on private and public property, said Cherry, who considers his business "a community effort to protect the environment."

More information on the Got E-Waste? effort and the collection schedule is available at 510-351-7511 or www.gotewaste.com

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To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bayarea.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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