Latest News – June 10

Monday Trash Talk: Twofers, E-Recycling & the TARP

Now that the weather’s warming up and locals are shaking off the dirt and grime of spring, let’s do some trash talking. That is, the good kind of trash talk, which involves recycling news as well as other things happening up at the Lake County Landfill.

First, if you’re not aware yet, the landfill is having its Annual Spring Clean Up program from now until Saturday, August 3. During the program Lake County Residents will receive a voucher for an equal or lesser amount of trash, to be redeemed in one trip. (Example: If you bring 3 yards of trash, you will receive a voucher for 3 yards of trash, which may be redeemed in one trip, not a little bit at a time).

The big news however is the new E-RECYCLING recently approved by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and initiated June 1st, 2013. Ultimately, every place in Colorado has to be in compliance under the Electronics Recycling Jobs Act, effective July 1, 2013.

In short, residents no longer may dispose of most electronic waste.  E-waste recycling is the recycling of the electronic waste from electronic hardware. As more of these newer hardware items like cellphones, computers, and stereos enter the marketplace, there is a need to recycle the older products that they replace. You’d be surprised at how many items do not have a charge attached to them. There’s the official information: LINK.

“The new law applies to TV sets, central processing units, computer monitors and peripherals, printers and fax machines, all kinds of laptops and notebook computers, DVD players, VCRs and any video display device with a screen larger than four inches,” explained Wolf Kray, recycling specialist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The ban also includes radios, stereo equipment and video game consoles. Telephones, motor vehicle components and non-hazardous industrial or commercial devices still may be legally disposed of in a Colorado landfill.

Be advised, any resident found illegally dumping of any E-waste into the face of the landfill will be charged a messy dumpers fee along with the price of that item they are trying to dispose of.

And lastly the county is wrapping up the last week of a 30-day trial on a new Tarp Deployment System at the landfill.

In brief the tarp lays over daily trash instead of the present system which requires landfill workers to place 6 inches of dirt on top of the trash – every day!

 “We are losing our landfill very quickly; it’s filling up,” explains Assistant Public Works Director Mike Irwin. “One way to add life to that is to stop adding dirt to it. Every day that we have the landfill ope, we have to cover it with 6 inches of dirt on what was brought in that day.”

The county has been looking into the Tarp system for years but only recently got permission from the Colorado Department of Public Health and environment to give it a test drive. If it works and it’s approved, looks like it’s a go, explains Irwin. “It will save us all over in the long run.” Stay Tuned!

Video of Tarp Deployment System
[youtube