City of Rockford responds to new electronic waste disposal requirements

Staff Reports

The City of Rockford and Rock River Disposal announce the procedure for Rockford residents to follow in response to newly-enacted legislation under the Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Public Act 97-287, which prohibits the disposal of electronic waste into landfills.

Illinois residents are no longer able to dispose of “electronic waste” in their curbside garbage because the above law prohibits disposal of it into landfills. E-waste consists of computers, video game consoles, computer monitors, electronic mice, printers, scanners, televisions, digital converter boxes, electronic keyboards, cable receivers, fax machines, satellite receivers, videocassette recorders, digital video disc recorders, portable digital music players, small-scale servers, DVD players, and cellular telephones.

Rock River Disposal will provide three drop-off sites that are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The drop-off at these locations will be free of charge to Rockford residents. The drop-off locations are as follows:

Rock River Environmental Services

5450 Wansford Way, Suite 225

Rockford, IL 61109

Rock River Disposal

4002 S. Main St.

Rockford, IL 61102

Winnebago Landfill

8403 Lindenwood Road

Rockford, IL 61109

Curbside pick-up is also available for a $35 fee. This fee is separate from the garbage cost reflected on normal water billing. It is a private arrangement between residents and Rock River Disposal. Call (815) 965-2489 during normal business hours to schedule a pick-up with a Customer Service representative.

In addition to the above collection effort, several other outlets for disposal are available. Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful conducts an electronic recovery drive the first Saturday of May and October for most electronic items, except televisions. For more information, call (815) 637-1343 or online at www.knib.org. American Appliances (815-229-1401), Best Buy (815-395-8405), Joseph Behr and Sons (815-987-2680) and Goodwill Industries (815-965-3795) are other local efforts that collect varying types of electronics. Call them for details and working hours.

The Electronics Products Recycling and Reuse Public Act 97-287 went into effect Jan. 1, 2012.

From the Jan. 18-24, 2012, issue