Keep Gilmer Beautiful (KGB) has announced a reschedule date for an electronics recycling event that was originally scheduled to take place in conjunction with the community beautification group’s Earth Day activities.
The new date for the e-recycling day is Saturday, Sept. 26. It will be open to the public and anyone will be able to drop off certain electronic devices from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the county parking lot behind Dalton State College and the George Link Jr. Gilmer Arts Playhouse.
“We will be set up near the Gilmer Senior Center and we’ll have some signage put up,” said Jay Zipperman, KGB board chairman.
KGB members want to notify the public about the rescheduled event since more people may be cleaning out their homes and considering getting rid of unwanted electronic items during the COVID-19 quarantine and pandemic.
“With social distancing still being done, people are now at home more. They’re cleaning out their closets and doing other projects. We want to encourage them to hold onto those electronics that can be recycled for just another two months. We would love to see a flat bed truck filled on Sept. 26,” said KGB advisory board member Karen Vitelli.
A contracted company, Atlanta Recycling Solutions of Alpharetta, will be on hand to collect the items, noted Vitelli.
“They were one of the first companies in Georgia to provide electronics recycling and they offer computer and electronics recycling nationally. Their customers include Fortune 500 companies, healthcare industries and small to medium companies,” she added.
Items that will be accepted for drop-off include, but are not limited to: desktop and laptop computers, servers, network hubs and switches, desktop phones, keyboards, mice, gaming consoles and controllers, LCD monitors, CD-ROM and floppy disk drives, hard drives, lithium batteries, car batteries, toner and ink-jet cartridges, DVD and Blu-Ray players, printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, typewriters, modems, stereos, VCRs, radios, CD players and dock stations.
Items that will not be accepted include, but are not limited to: projection and console TVs, washers and dryers, vacuum cleaners, gas grill tanks, battery-powered tools, alkaline batteries, gas power tools, microwaves, radioactive material, humidifiers and dehumidifiers, coffee makers, freezers, blenders, mixers, ovens, hair dryers and refrigerators.
Most devices will be accepted free of charge, but disposal fees will be charged for all TVs ($20) and CRT devices ($10).
The event will be conducted in somewhat of a drive-thru manner, noted Zipperman.
“People will pull in and they’ll have a big box truck with pallets sitting out there. They will help people unload and the items will be put on pallets that will be loaded onto a box truck,” he added.
Vitelli mentioned some of the disposal methods used by the recycling company.
“They reduce your risk of jeopardizing private information by adhering to a zero landfill policy and meeting strict government guidelines of security (by) following Department of Defense guidelines for data destruction and helping to make sure e-waste doesn’t distress the environment. They shred computer and server hardware drives into pieces,” she added.
Zipperman confirmed this will be the first time that an e-recycling event has been hosted by KGB, which typically holds annual Earth Day community cleanups and sponsors a recurring Adopt-A-Road cleanup program.
“The idea with this is to dispose of these items properly and responsibly. We keep them out of the landfill and they are recycled,” he added.
“This company takes all the stuff to their center and they break it all down, separate all the wires and recycle everything they can. Your plastic, metal parts, wire and copper can all be recycled.”
The event was originally going to be held in conjunction with the first day of the inaugural 7 Trails Fest, where KGB also planned to have an informational booth and recycling activities. Both events were canceled at the onset of the health crisis.
“Next spring, maybe we will be able to have the big event with 7 Trails as was planned,” Zipperman noted. “I sure do hope everything will be good enough to start over by then.”
Zipperman noted that volunteers participating in the event will be using safety guideline precautions.
“That’s our plan, to take precautions even though we’ll be outside. Any of us who are there helping should be wearing masks and we also ask that people (who are bringing items to drop off) also wear masks,” he added.