LEHMAN TWP. — Printers, computers and microwaves were just some of the items that the Dallas Area Municipal Authority collected during its electronics recycling event Saturday morning.
Ryan Longfoot, DAMA’s solid waste supervisor, said the day was a “need” for the residents of Dallas, Dallas Township and Kingston Township.
“It’s a key to getting rid of stuff,” Longfoot said.
According to Longfoot, the event was a first for the authority, and people were coming to the compost facility in spurts.
“It’s been a good turn out,” he said.
DAMA used Responsible Recycling Services LLC, of Kutztown, as its recycler. Two RRS trucks sat in the garage of the compost facility as cars pulled up and unloaded different radios, printers, telephones, speakers and other gadgets that make life easier but don’t last forever.
Sean Robbins, of Dallas, couldn’t dispose of his old microwave and console television with his household trash and made the trip to get rid of them in an environmentally safe manner.
“It’s so hard to get rid of my electronics,” he said.
The television was originally Robbins’ grandmother’s, he said. It also outlasted his first apartment.
“It was this or going to the Smithsonian,” he chuckled about the TV in the back of his car.
Also on hand during the event was Luzerne County Recycling Coordinator Beth DiNardi.
She said there were three municipal organizations, such as DAMA, who had taken the county up on their offer to pay for some of the cost of a recycling event.
“More towns should step up and do this,” she said.
“I guess it’s hard to make it profitable (for municipalities),” Robbins said.
A state law allows the municipalities to charge for the service. DAMA was charging $5 to drop off electronics and other charges if the items needed to be destroyed.
If the county was hosting the event, it could not charge a fee.
“It’s a way for (the municipalities) to help their coffers,” DeNardi noted.
