Local waste management will continue to dispose of students' computers. (Paige Sims)
The Solid Waste Management District of the Butler County Department of Environmental Services has instituted its first long-term electronic disposal program to ensure that hazardous materials from the disposal of old electronics do not end up in landfills.
The electronics drop-off program is being executed with the help of the Butler County Board of Commissioners.
Electronics contain heavy metals like lead, mercury and copper along with other potentially hazardous substances. Though not dangerous while in a computer or cell phone, these toxic materials enter the environment when electronic equipment is crushed or incinerated in landfills.
"Butler County Commissioners are very excited to provide this service to Butler County residents," said Mary Lynn Lodor, environmental division head of Butler County Environmental Services. "It gets precious materials out of landfills and provides them as resources so they can be reused, refurbished or made into other goods."
In the past, this service has been available only during isolated dates once or twice a year. This past year, collection began March 11 and ended Sept.16. It took old computers, cell phones, printers, and ink cartridges off residents' hands at no cost. Every Saturday between 8 a.m. and noon, residents could hand over their electronics to workers at 130 High St. in Hamilton.
The program has drawn more than 500 people and collected 57,794 pounds of old electronics.
Despite this success, the county is still tweaking the service. In the future, residents will likely have the opportunity to recycle their electronics once a month, instead of once a week.
"We feel it's really been a successful program," Lodor said.
Although Butler County collects the electronics, it does not do the actual recycling. It contracts the work to the Technology Recycling Group (TRG), a Cincinnati-based company that also caters to private businesses.
Because most nonprofit organizations or charities do not accept computers without at least a Pentium III processor, this excludes most discarded computers. However, TRG can occasionally reuse motherboards, but the computers themselves are usually disassembled.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
Carol Weinstein, CFO and owner of TRG, explained what happens to the computers.
"We break it down to screws," Weinstein.
The toxic materials are then extracted and handled according to EPA regulations. TRG's policy is one of "no landfills," Weinstein said.
Miami University also works with TRG, through disposing of university computers.
"We have hard drives shredded so that any data that's on the university assets doesn't get out there," said Bob Black, assistant director of the support desk for Information Technology Services.
For even more security, Weinstein said, Miami representatives are often present during the shredding.
The next opportunity to take advantage of Butler County electronic disposal service is Oct. 21. There will be a drop-off site for old electronics, appliances, and tires at Ross Township High School, located at 3601 Hamilton Cleves Road. The event will last from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.