The City of Knoxville is partnering with several organizations, including the Optimist Club of West Knoxville, the Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Knox County Solid Waste Department, in hosting an electronics E-cycling event on Saturday, Jan. 11th.
The E-cycling event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Chilhowee Park, Midway Parking Lot on North Beaman Street. The electronics collection will take place rain or shine, snow or cold.
More information is available at KnoxEcycles.org.
Getting rid of your unwanted electronics in an environmentally friendly manner couldn’t be easier. Saturday’s collection is a drive-through, drop-off and leave event, meaning residents won’t even have to leave their vehicles to recycle old computers, laptops, cell phones, small appliances and other electronic items.
This free electronic waste collection event gives residents a chance to properly dispose of electronic items that contain hazardous materials, and it also keeps computer equipment from taking up space in landfills. Recycling electronics also allows for the salvage of materials that can be reused in the manufacture of new electronic products, which helps the environment by reducing the need for raw materials in the process.
Acceptable items include computer equipment like PC systems, CPUs, mice, keyboards, printers, scanners, laptops, modems, hard drives, speakers, power cords, cables, phones, power strips, desktop copiers, fax machines, and cell phones. These items may contain significant amounts of hazardous metals. Some switches and relays, for instance, may contain mercury, and printed circuit boards and monitors may contain metals like lead, chromium, cadmium and mercury.
Additional items accepted at the event this year are small household appliances such as radios, microwaves, stereos, vacuum cleaners, toner/ink cartridges, docking stations, CD-ROMs, fax machines and other office electronics, rechargeable batteries, telephones and tape players.
Unacceptable items for this event include electronic equipment containing hazardous chemicals, small refrigerators, stoves, appliances, scrap metal, aluminum cans, cardboard and paper. Also prohibited are devices containing or emitting radioactivity, car batteries, mercury-containing devices, smoke alarms, light bulbs (fluorescent or incandescent), thermostats, thermometers, air-conditioners, fire extinguishers, gas-powered engines and bio-waste.
Sorry, no televisions are being accepted this year. But other locations accepting TVs for free disposal include the City of Knoxville’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center at Baxter Avenue and Elm Street; Knox County convenience centers; the City’s recycling drop-off centers; and any Goodwill Industries locations.
The Domestic Violence Unit of the Knoxville Police Department also collects used cell phones, which must have a charger, battery and be in good working order. To donate a personal phone, with the service disconnected, call 865-215-6800.
There is no charge to drop off your old computer and other related electronic devices during Saturday’s E-cycling collection, but donations will gladly be accepted and will benefit the Optimist Club of West Knoxville and the Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Other sponsors include WUOT 91.9, B 97.5, WBIR-TV Channel 10, Best Buy, Creative Recycling, Knox County’s Solid Waste Department and the City of Knoxville’s Office of Solid Waste.
