Electronic recycling now available in Valley
John and Jenine Manesiotis are joined by staff, Alamosa chamber members and supporters at the grand opening of WSB e-Recyclers this fall in Alamosa. Courier photo by Ruth Heide.ALAMOSA — In an effort to keep electronics out of the landfills and ditches, WSB Computer Services has developed WSB e-Recyclers, which has already collected more than 15,000 pounds of the 175,000 pounds estimated e-waste in the San Luis Valley.
“There’s a lot of e-waste out there,” said WSB e-Recyclers President Jenine Manesiotis, “and hopefully we can keep it out of the ditches.”
“If it has a board or a cord,” she described electronic items that could be recycled.
“Pretty much everything that has to do with a power cable or electronic board is classified as e-waste,” added Joe Manesiotis, vice president of WSB e-Recyclers.
Jenine and Joe Manesiotis asked for the SLV County Commissioners Association’s help this week to spread the word that e-recycling is available in the Valley. They also asked the counties to provide collection sites, which e-Recyclers would staff on a regular basis, such as biweekly.
Joe Manesiotis explained to the commissioners that e-waste is literally a growing problem for landfills. A computer bought today can be outdated and replaced in a couple of years, he explained. There are 65 million PC’s that become obsolete in the U.S. every year, he said. Add to that, televisions sitting in someone’s basement and a wide variety of other electronics that have been replaced but not disposed of.
Joe Manesiotis said there was nowhere in the Valley to recycle such items. People would have to drive to Colorado Springs or Pueblo.
Making the need more urgent was the passage of Senate Bill 133 that bans e-waste from landfills starting in July 2013.
Joe Manesiotis said e-waste is 95-98 percent recyclable. WSB e-Recyclers has created jobs for Blue Peaks Developmental Services clients who have a skill for disassembling the electronics that are recycled, he said.
Jenine Manesiotis recalled a Blue Peaks client who was going through one of their trainings half asleep but when he was given a computer to dismantle, he disassembled it “like he was born to do it, like he was doing it his whole life.”
She said there is an estimated 175,000 pounds of e-waste in the Valley ready to be recycled, and WSB e-Recyclers has a goal of collecting 80,000 pounds of that in the first year. More than 15,000 pounds has already been collected in the short time the business has been operational, she added.
To pay the employees who are disassembling the electronics and cover expenses, and because there is not a lot of revenue in recycled electronics, WSB e-Recyclers is charging 30 cents a pound to customers wishing to recycle electronic items.
“I think most people are going to be willing to pay a reasonable fee to get rid of it,” said SLV County Commissioners Association Chairman Mike Spearman. “Thank you for doing this.”
Electronics may be recycled at 21 Craft Drive, across from Town & Country Auto Mall in Alamosa. For more information call 589-8940.
Items that accepted for recycling include: amplifiers, answering systems, APC/UPS backup supplies, appliances (no refrigerators or air conditioners, nothing with freon), audio visual equipment, auto starters and alternators, batteries (alkaline, NiMH, NiCad, lithium ion), broadcasting equipment, cable boxes (analog, digital and satellite), cables and wire, calculators, cameras, capacitors, CATV components, CD-ROM drives, cell phones, circuit boards, communication equipment, connectors, consumer electronics, copiers, CRT’s of all types, electronic motors, electronic components, fax machine, floppy drive, hard drive, etc., home entertainment systems, insulated cable, wire harnesses, cable assemblies cooper and aluminum, integrated circuits/semiconductors, IT and telecommunication electronics, keyboards/mice, etc., laptops and notebook computers, mainframe computer equipment, medical equipment, meters-electric and gas, microwave ovens, miscellaneous electronic items, monitors of all types, paging systems, personal computers and associated hardware, point of sale equipment, power supplies, printers, resistors, receiver-transmitters, security systems, servers, satellite and cable equipment, stereo components all types, surveillance equipment, telecommunication equipment, telephones including cordless and cellular, television equipment, test equipment, transformers, transistors, typewriters and calculators, user terminals and systems, vacuums, video equipment, video game equipment, washers and dryers, wiring and zip drives.
