Online Signup Form

The next Metals and Electronics Recycling Event will be May 5, 2012, in the south parking lot of Machesney Park Mall.

Effective January 1, 2012, electronic devices may no longer be disposed of in landfills in Illinois.  They must be disposed of through a collector/recycler/refurbisher licensed and approved by the State of Illinois.  Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful has been an approved collector of electronic devices since 2010. 

The wonders of modern appliances and fixtures have brought with them some problems which deal with disposal of discarded items. That new refrigerator or freezer or Air Conditioner is a sight to behold and so much more efficient than the old one. But what about the Freon that was used to cool the old one? And what do we do with the metal? Freon spilled on the ground is considered a hazardous waste by the Environmental Protection Agency. It must be removed and disposed of so that the groundwater will not be contaminated. That’s where we come in.

The first Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful Metals and Electronics Drive was held in September of 1998. Response was tremendous with over 225 people from Winnebago, Boone, Stephenson and Rock Counties participating. Over 40,000 pounds of old appliances, electronics and metal items were collected. Now we schedule two collection dates annually to keep these no longer used items from winding up in the landfill.

The two Metals Drives held in 2011, saw 1,920 people from the Stateline area drop off water heaters, washers, dryers, grills, phones, lawnmowers, stoves and more. Over 180 volunteers unloaded almost 111 tons of materials to trucks that could not keep up with the in-flow.

Recently we have expanded our coverage to include no longer used electronics items such as video recorders, computer equipment including the CPU, monitor, keyboard and mouse. There is approximately four pounds of lead in each computer monitor which must be safely removed and processed to keep it from contaminating our safe drinking water supply. In addition, 100% of the components of each computer are recycled. We recycled almost 500 computer monitors in 2010.  Proper recycling means that almost 100% of each computer monitor can be reused in some way.

These charges are necessary to remove harmful chemicals from these items and certify them safe to State stadards  for recycling.

TV’s WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.  (take TV’s to American TV of Rockford, 6651 E. State St.)

This is a volunteer intensive project. If you would like to participate in keeping Northern Illinois beautiful and safe, call (815) 637-1343 for information on how you can help.