E-Waste and Shred Day turnout solid

Published 12:54 am Sunday, May 18, 2014

A slow but steady trickle of cars came through the Ironton Hills parking lot to dispose of electronic waste and documents.

By 10:45 Saturday morning, more than 30 vehicles had already passed through the Lawrence Scioto Solid Waste Management District’s E-Waste and Shred Day disposal line.

“People haven’t been coming non-stop or anything like that but it’s been steady,” Dan Palmer, LSSWMD district director, said. “We weren’t supposed to start until 10 a.m. but we had people at 9:30 in the morning so we went ahead and took their stuff and disposed of it for them.”

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In the digital age that is today’s world, electronic waste is one of the largest problems facing the environment. The annual E-Waste and Shred Day provides residents of Lawrence County with a convenient and safe place to dispose of their unwanted or broken computers, printers and monitors.

“Those types of electronics can’t be thrown away like your typical everyday trash,” Palmer said. “Not only can it have negative consequences for the environment but tech savvy people can find ways to get personal information, even off broken computers.”

Last year the LSSWMD disposed of more than 11,000 pounds of e-waste and documents as they serviced 108 vehicles. Palmer doesn’t expect this year’s numbers to be quite as big but does expect the turnout to be better than the one in Portsmouth, held earlier last week.

“Our Scioto County turnout in Portsmouth was better this year,” Palmer said. “But, it never matches the turnout we get in Ironton. We did 3,300 pounds of e-waste and shredded 700 pounds of papers, but Ironton will do more than that. It’s been a solid turnout.”