Coping with Electronic Waste

A large plastic garbage bin sits full of old computers and monitors in the electronic waste bay of the Ansonia transfer station.

The computers appear to have been made several years ago — not old by many standards, but in the computer world, that's ancient.

That's why people throw them away, and towns and cities in the region must deal with growing piles of electronic waste. Every town and city has a different way of collecting it.

"Bring us your old ones. It's free. We'll take them at no charge," said Ansonia Mayor Jim Della Volpe, anxious to get the word out that his city's transfer station accepts electronic waste.

In Monroe, residents looking to throw out their old computers and other electronic waste bring it to the

Trumbull transfer station, said Art Baker, Monroe's director of public works.

"You can't put it in a landfill, and you don't want to send this stuff to get burned in an incinerator because those components are so heavy," Baker said.

So the stuff goes to a specialized electronic recycling center.

"They get taken apart and the components get reused, sold on the market or maybe used as scrap metal. Anything that can be reused gets reused," Baker said.

ComputerRecyler.com in Cromwell is where the town of Fairfield sends its electronic refuse.

Fairfield is serious about electronic waste recycling, and has a special section of its transfer station to handle the material, said Michael Zembruski, director of solid waste recycling for

the town.

"We send it to where it's pulled apart," Zembruski said.

"You don't want to put this stuff into an incinerator. You know there's a lot of lead in a TV set," he said.

-n n

But just what happens to electronic waste once it leaves the transfer station?

Any number of fates beckon. Under Connecticut law, private household electronic waste can be placed into the refuse stream — which sometimes means it is incinerated with other trash — but public and business electronic waste must be properly recycled. Fairfield generated six tons of household electronic waste last year.

The worst fate for electronic waste is to have it end up in a landfill. Electronic waste contains potentially hazardous substances, including cadmium, mercury and chromium, that could leach into groundwater. But electronic waste sometimes contains valuable materials, as well.

Electronic waste that has not been refurbished or stripped for components is melted down to recover the small amounts of gold, silver and other valuable reusable metals.

Computer circuit boards, for example, often contain gold, since it is both a good conductor of electricity and is resistant to corrosion. There would not be enough gold in one

computer to amount to much for one individual, but enough to make it worthwhile for a recycler to stockpile thousands of them.

"The old clunkers have the most," said Richard Cianci, owner of ComputerRecyler.com. The company breaks down electronic waste for its recyclable materials, then sends the metals to refineries to be melted down.

East Coast Asset Recovery, based in Waterbury, offers the same type of service. n n n

To get bulk materials to these outfits, some groups — such as the New Canaan Nature Center — organize electronic waste recycling events.

"These are things that could end up in landfills, which isn't good for the environment," said Hilary Wittmann, a spokeswoman for the center, which held its second annual Earth Day Recyclefest Saturday, the official date of Earth Day.

The event will give the community a chance to clean house in an environmentally friendly way by accepting a wide variety of items for recycling and donation.

The New Canaan event, Recyclefest '08, was free for members of the New Canaan Nature Center but a $20 donation was requested from nonmember families to help cover the cost of disposal.

-n n

Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority is holding events where residents of Bridgeport, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, Norwalk, Orange, Shelton, Stamford, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport, Wilton, Woodbridge, Bethany, Darien, East Haven, Easton or Greenwich can bring e-waste. Bring proof of address. No businesses or institutions allowed:

l The Discovery Museum on Park Avenue in Bridgeport, Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. That's off exit 47 of the Merritt Parkway.

l Fairfield Warde High School, Melville Avenue and Knapps Highway, May 10, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. That's off Villa Avenue in Fairfield.

Tony Spinelli, who covers the region for ConnPost.com, can be reached at 330-6361.