Pitt County received $11,128 from the state Division of Waste Management to assist its electronic recycling efforts, according to a news release.
The state Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Waste Management awarded $600,000 to 83 county and city governments to support efforts to recycle electronics like televisions and computer equipment.
Electronics recycling is not self-supporting, said John Demary, Pitt County solid waste and recycling director.
It cost Pitt County $95,000 in fiscal year 2017-18 to recycle 210 tons of televisions and 31 tons of other electronics such as computers, Demary said. The amount does not include labor costs, he said. Between July 1 and Jan. 31 the county has spent $59,703 on electronics recycling.
In 2010 the state banned the disposal of televisions and electronics in landfills. That same year, the General Assembly created the Electronics Management Program to expand public and private infrastructure to manage collection and recycling of specific electronic devices, according to a news release from the waste management division.
The program directs electronics manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and local governments to collaborate for the responsible recycling and reuse of electronic equipment. It requires computer equipment and television manufacturers who sell in the state to offer ‘take-back’ programs to residents and pay an annual registration fee.
Demary said that early in the process, manufacturers provided incentives that covered the recycling costs of counties.
“That money has since dried up and we don’t make any money off it,” he said.
Recycling older-model televisions is expensive because they contain cathode ray tubes, which are what produce the image on the screen. These tubes contain lead, Demary said, which is expensive to remove and recycle.
His department is doing a better job managing the flow of materials sent to its electronics recycler. When old wood floor models come in, staff removes the TV components for recycling and keeps the wood components for local disposal, he said.
“It’s amazing they are still out there. They always come in and I always joke they are growing out of the ground somewhere,” Demary said.
With computers and other electronic devices, staff also separate components that can be locally handled, such has cutting off power cords, and sending the electronics to the recycler.
The county also receives credit for the precious metals — namely gold and platinum, that the recyclers retrieve from the devices, Demary said.
Since 2010, local government and manufacturer programs have diverted more than 300 million pounds of electronics from solid waste landfills, according to the Division of Waste Management news release. Last year, local recycling programs collected almost 80 percent of all consumer-generated televisions and computer equipment recycled by residents in this state, which is 35.7 million pounds of consumer electronic waste kept out of landfills statewide.
The Division of Waste Management does not collect data on electronics recycled by businesses.
Pitt County accepts televisions and electronic devices at its transfer station, 3025 Landfill Road, and 14 collection sites sites across the county.