M.C. Solid Waste to charge to television & monitor recycling

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 at 4:09 PM

During the monthly meeting of the members of the Marshall County Solid Waste Management District, Executive Director Marianne Peters made the recommendation to begin charging for electronic waste.

Peters said their current electronic recycling vendor, Green Wave abruptly doubled the cost to have televisions and monitors hauled away. She said last year they spent about $8,500 which was extremely reasonable. In the past Solid Waste has spent as much as $30,000 annually on electronic waste. The mid-year increase has been estimated to be an additional $10,000.

Peters showed an example of a larger tubed TV that weighs nearly 100 pounds. Their cost to have that TV recycled is $67. She said flat-screen TVs and monitors cost less to recycle.

Marianne Peters suggested charging $5 for monitors and TVs under 32 inches, $10 for TVs over 32 inches, and $20 for projection televisions. Following some additional discussion members decided to increase the cost of monitors and televisions less than 32 inches to $10. Televisions over 32 inches will be $15 and projection televisions will stay at $20. The new fee schedule will begin on July 1st so anyone who has a television and wants to recycle it should do so before the end of the month.

Peters noted that in 2023 the Recycle Depot recycled 32,0052 pounds of tubed televisions. Other electronics recycled last year include 7,324 pounds of desktop computers, 705 pounds of laptops, 679 pounds of projection televisions, 428 pounds of printers, and 1,868 pounds of electronic wiring.