HOULTON, Maine — Those individuals with a few broken electronic devices or old televisions stashed in a corner of their basement will once again have a chance to get rid of those items for free.
The fifth annual E-Waste event, hosted by the Rotary Club of Houlton and Aid For Kids, will be held 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, in the parking lot of St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church.
The event will be held rain or shine, as evidenced by last year’s event which took place during a pouring rain.
“In the past four years, the event has recycled more than 150 tons [more than 300,000 pounds] of old, broken or unwanted electronics,” said Mac Randolph, Houlton Rotarian. “That’s 150 tons of potential hazardous material out of our landfills, woods, streams or roadsides. One old tube TV has almost eight pounds of powdered lead sprayed inside the tube, ready to leak into our environment.”
The free recycling event will accept nearly any electronic device, including computers, laptops, monitors, flat screens, TVs, flat screen TVs, printers, copiers, telephones (rotary, push button or cell), walkie talkies, ballasts, radios, game consoles, controllers, hair dryers, fax machines, servers, lamps and network equipment.
Rotarians are unable to accept refrigerators, washers, dryers or freezers due to their size. In addition, because of EPA restrictions, the group is also unable to accept any item with freon, such as air conditioners or dehumidifiers, and can also not accept any mercury vapor light bulbs or other vapor bulbs. For that reason, the group is not accepting any light bulbs.
Donations will be taken, but are not required. This is a free event to the Houlton community and surrounding towns.
“There seems to be no shortage of old electronics in the area,” Randolph said. “Each year, we are seeing more and more electronics people are pulling out of fields and back yards, streams and rivers and bringing them to the event to dispose of properly.”
The generosity of the community has been tremendous, he added. Donations are split 75/25 between the Rotary Club and Aid For Kids, going toward community projects and helping needy area children.
