Annual drop-off event helps residents recycle responsibly

COVINGTON, Ky. – A free drop-off recycling event will be held in Covington on Saturday, June 24, to help residents get rid of computer equipment and other electronics, foam packaging, and confidential documents that need to be shredded.

The 8^th annual event – called the E-Waste Recycling Event – will be held as usual in the parking lot behind Holmes High School, and runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Drivers should enter from Madison Avenue, and they don’t need to register ahead of time. Volunteers will unload vehicles.

The event is hosted by Keep Covington Beautiful and The Center for Great Neighborhoods in partnership with the City of Covington and Boone County Solid Waste & Recycling.

“We want to make it easy for residents to get rid of difficult-to-dispose of items while at the same time keeping toxic material out of our landfills,” said Sheila Fields, the City’s Solid Waste and Recycling Manager.

Just last year, the event collected 7,649 pounds of e-waste, 10,000 pounds of paper, and 92 pounds of Styrofoam™.

Professionally certified recyclers will take ownership of the material: Cobalt (a Cohen Company) will disassemble and dispose of electronic waste. Shred-it will destroy sensitive documents. And the polystyrene foam will be processed and condensed by Boone County Solid Waste and Recycling and brought to Eco Development, where it will be transported to an end user and made into new products.

Not sure what you can bring? Here’s a guide:

Electronics:

• Old computers and computer accessories: laptops, hard drives, tablets, monitors, power cords.
• Keyboards, mice, speakers, cables.
• Telephone equipment, cell phones.
• Printers, fax machines, copiers.
• Stereo equipment.
• TVs, VCRs, Betas, DVRs, and remotes.
• Cable and satellite boxes.
• Video game systems.
• Microwaves.
• Alkaline batteries (like D, C, AAA, AA and 9 volt). No lithium batteries, rechargeable batteries, or button cell (round silver) batteries.

Paper:

• Must be loose and dry.
• Staples and paper clips do not need to be removed.

Foam:

• Must be clean, with no tape and stickers.
• This means polystyrene, aka Styrofoam™, packaging material. No fast-food containers, packing peanuts or foam containers.

Do NOT bring:

• Thermostats and mercury switches.
• Equipment containing biological waste, chemicals, oils, or fluids.
• Radioactive material, asbestos or PCBs.
• Equipment with tanks or sealed units.
• Light bulbs of any kind, including fluorescent & compact fluorescent (CFL) lightbulbs.
• Large appliances.

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