ReGroup, a Kenai Peninsula organization that aims to increase awareness about waste reduction, will host its annual electronics recycling event this Saturday at the Central Peninsula Landfill in Soldotna. Participants can drop off nearly any recyclable electronic device, including computers, televisions, cell phones, vacuum cleaners, appliances and more.
Jan Wallace is the organization’s vice president. She says each event has collected anywhere from ten thousand to seventeen thousand pounds of recycled electronics in the last decade. After the event, Wallace says the electronics are sent to Central Recycling Services in Anchorage for processing.
“There’s a lot of valuable resources in our electronics, and they’re in very small amounts," she said. "When you take it and multiply it by thousands of devices, it comes out to be a lot of resources that are reclaimed and not buried in the landfill. From an environmental point of view, it makes really good sense.”
DVDs, cassette tapes, electronic exit signs and smoke detectors will not be accepted for recycling. There’s a $15 suggested donation for television and computer monitor recycling, although all items will be accepted regardless of ability to pay.
The event will run 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you’re unable to attend, organizers suggest encouraging a friend or neighbor to bring in your recyclable electronics.
Started in 2007, the annual recycling event has collected over 217,000 pounds of electronics on the central peninsula. For more information about the event or to see a detailed list of accepted electronics, visit ReGroup’s Facebook page.
