Checking the quality of some of the LCD monitors is just one example of these preparations.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): With many electronics prohibited in landfills, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources encourages the public to e-cycle.
It’s an initiative that aims to keep electronics used in homes and schools out of landfills by helping consumers recycle them.
Founded ten years ago, one Sturtevant business is helping make this goal a reality.
Legacy Recycling collects a wide range of electronics from areas such as Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison and Green Bay. All items the business receives go through various preparations to be recycled.
Checking the quality of some of the LCD monitors is just one example of these preparations.
“[Our team] will put it in the different bins or stack it on various pallets to get ready to be shipped out to the larger recyclers and refineries. From there, that will do the actual physical, mechanical breakdown of these materials to extract the raw materials,” said Matrise.
In Wisconsin, it’s illegal to throw away computers and their accessories, TVs and video players. That’s why Matrise is helping local companies and residents get rid of their electronics in a safe and productive way.
“The old CRT or the old tube televisions, for example, those have leaded glass. We want to keep the lead out of the landfills or Freon out of the appliances, for example. The mercury vapor out of fluorescent lightbulb tubes and things out of that nature. Some of this stuff that we want to keep out of the landfills,” said Matrise.
However, this isn’t the only reason Matrise encourages e-cycling.
“A lot of these materials still have good reusable commodities in them: the plastics, the steel, the copper, the aluminum. That can all be reused and made into new products down the road,” said Matrise. “The negative aspect, what I mean by that, is there is also some of the materials that have negative materials in them, hazardous materials in them.”
“Whether it’s a microwave or a laptop, up to MRI machines and CT scanners from some of the larger hospitals in the area or health care facilities or even the Milwaukee Zoo, for example — we do pickups with everyone,” said Matrise. “Ultrasound machine with the vet clinic at the zoo. You know, neat stuff like that. It’s just kinda neat to see and to also know that’s also being handled well and then it’s going to be reused into something else. That’s pretty cool.”
According to the DNR, more than 23 million pounds of electronics were recycled between July 2021 and June 2022.
Matrise said he hopes people will continue to be mindful that recycling is an option for their electronics.
Courtesy: www.spectrumnews1.com
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