Recycling event to gather electronics, medical items
PRESQUE ISLE — As people in the community begin to think about spring cleaning, The Aroostook Medical Center will offer the opportunity on Thursday, April 14, to bring used, broken and unwanted electronic devices for proper disposal, free of charge.
This year, the medical center has added a new element to the day and will also collect no-longer-needed medical equipment to donate to Partners for World Health, a Maine-based nonprofit, for repurposing.
For about 18 years, TAMC has actively participated in electronics recycling, but on Earth Day last year, they took things one step further by co-sponsoring a special electronics recycling day with partner Electronics End, LLC, extending the event into the community. The event was so successful that a second recycling day was offered in the fall.
The April 14 collection will be held from 7 a.m.-2 p.m.
“We really did not expect the amount of recycling we received the first time we opened it to the community,” said Mark Bourgoin, chair of TAMC’s Green Team and organizer of the event. “We had 48,000 pounds turned in. The vendor we partner with on this, Electronics End, was surprised that we wanted to do it again last fall, but we had so many requests from the community that we felt there was a need.
“They told us not to expect as much that time around,” he said. “It was amazing to all of us that over 52,000 pounds was collected last fall. They told us that no other community in Maine has had a second recycling event in one year that was more successful than the first one.”
Bourgoin credits this success with the interest that people from Aroostook County have in recycling and doing the right thing for the environment.
“Properly disposing of these electronic items keeps harmful material out of the environment and allows for recycling of reusable elements, thus improving the sustainability of earth’s resources,” said Bourgoin. “Many of the items contain heavy metals. These items would be dangerous to the environment if not disposed/recycled appropriately. Plus many of these items have plastics that can be recycled for reuse purposes.”
Items that will be accepted include: computer monitors, network servers, TVs, desktop printers, digital frame pictures, cellphones, laptops, game consoles, computer towers, data/electrical cables, FAX machines, scanners, copiers, speakers, keyboards, stereos, DVD/VHS players and overhead projectors. They are unable to accept light bulbs or batteries at this event.
TAMC will collaborate with Partners for World Health to accept medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, CPAP machines and any number of items that people may no longer have a use for but could be put to use overseas to countries in need. In addition to these larger items, many smaller items are accepted as well, such as the “grabbers” used by patients recovering from certain surgeries or conditions, unused insulin needles still in their packages, unopened packages of gauze, Ace bandages and any number of other items.
Non-medical items such as pillowcases and sheets, baby bottles, combs, and toothpaste and toothbrushes are also being collected for the group.
Partners for World Health, based in South Portland, strives to reduce medical equipment waste in landfills while improving global well-being by recycling medical supplies that need to be discarded because of U.S. government regulations. According to the organization, these supplies are perfectly capable of reuse or repurposing. Such donations have a low impact on those donating, but a major impact on developing countries that receive them.
“TAMC has been donating items for the past year to this organization, and we felt that community members might also want the chance to support this cause while getting rid of medical items that they no longer need,” explained Bourgoin.
The organization will have their truck here on April 14, as well, to collect the items donated at TAMC.
For additional information, contact Bourgoin at 768-4349 or mbourgoin@tamc.org.
