It's only about a month since Christmas, and a good many consumers in metro Grand Rapids are feeling the downside of Santa's largesse.
Now that the flat screen TV is up on the wall for the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, the old boxy cathode ray tube TV is banished to the corner like a naughty brat. The new Blu-ray DVD player makes the old VCR bear an uncanny resemblance to 8-track tape player. And that old computer is just so slooooow compared with the new 64-bit powerhouse.
It's the hangover from Christmas or just plain obsolesce: mounds of electronics with some life left or bearing components made of nasty stuff -- more than 383 tons of e-waste collected by Kent County last year alone.
But there's hope for anyone who wants a clear conscience, along with a clean corner in the living room. Instead of pitching electronics in the trash, there's places in metro Grand Rapids that take your tired equipment for deconstruction or sale to those who can reuse the devices.
And come April 1, a new state law takes effect requiring manufacturers of new computers and televisions to offer takeback programs that promote e-waste recycling. The new law stipulates that any retailer, even Internet, catalog, or manufacturer direct ones, can only sell "new computers and televisions manufactured by registered manufacturers" that are participants in the program.
While it's too late for the shopping season just passed, the new law should help control e-waste with purchases going forward.
Spring cleaning
Once the weather warms and spring cleaning begins in earnest, the 70 or so employees at Valley City Environmental Services Inc. step into high gear, a pace they likely will not have seen since the Christmas holiday season. Valley City is the region's premier recycler of electronic consumer goods – everything from personal computers to tape recorders to cell phones.
In the shadow of Kent County's massive incinerator on Market Avenue SW, the company operates a 65,000-square-foot waste processing center and a small retail store for used electronics that are deemed of potential use to someone.
Instead of going to landfills or incinerators, the 40-year-old firm dismantles electronic equipment and gives it new life in one form or another.
"Christmas and spring are the traditional time for people to get their recycling hats on, so e-waste falls into that category,'' says Dave Perry, electronics recycling manager for Valley City.
Valley City works with Fortune 500 companies, county and municipal waste departments and rural communities so people can safely dispose of unwanted electronics. This reduces the likelihood of finding e-junk dumped along a country road, Perry notes.
A fleet of more than two dozen trucks collect e-waste throughout the Lower Peninsula. Back in Grand Rapids, workers separate or extract wire, plastic, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other components. Hazardous materials, such as lead and mercury, are safely removed.
In all, some three million pounds of electronic waste is processed annually, and "by weight, TVs account for the highest volume of what we recycle,'' Perry says. "We're tied into roughly 40 recycling programs in the Lower Peninsula.''
Yet electronics account for only one-fifth of Valley City's business operations. It primarily handles industrial, hazardous and chemical wastes.
Part of the solution
A fair amount of Valley City's electronic waste stream comes from Kent County, which launched an e-waste collection program in August, 2001.
In the first five months of operation that year, the county collected 50 tons of electronic waste. And while that sounds like a lot, the county handled more than seven times that amount last year, says Dennis Kmiecik, director of solid waste for the Kent County Department of Public Works.
"We try to stay on top and we saw this coming; the emphasis on recycling electronic products," Kmiecik says. "We have three collection spots and people use it, based on tonnage. It requires making a special trip, but the drop-off programs are free and that makes it attractive." Kent County pays for the e-waste recycling program with solid waste disposal fees.
Kent County residents can drop off their e-waste at the North Kent Recycle and Transfer Station west of Rockford, the South Kent Landfill in Byron Center or the downtown recycling facility at 322 Bartlett St. SW. The county's website lists other local operations that take e-waste, include Goodwill of Greater Grand Rapids and Comprenew Environmental.
Falling prices and greater availability of flat screen sets generated a spike in older TVs dropped off at Kent's three e-collection sites. "Lots of TVs came in last year and we're anticipating more VCRs as people switch over to DVD players," Kmiecik says.
Valley City accepts e-waste at its 1040 Market Ave. SW site for a fee depending on the item. For instance, TVs are $10 to $15, depending on the size, Perry says. "The point to understand is that there is a cost to recycling; that cost has to be paid by either the person generating it, a municipal program and hopefully soon, the manufacturers.
"More electronics are made less expensively and with the technology upgrades, equipment becomes obsolete so quickly these days,'' Perry says. "With technology rapidly changing, the useful life of many consumer electronics is three to four years.''
Too often, electronic dinosaurs end up overseas for recycling and often were handled in ways that weren't eco-friendly, Perry says. "For us, we decided we wanted to separate ourselves from the competition,'' he explains."We decided we weren't going to send materials overseas for scrapping, but do it internally.''
Workers dismantle and hand-sort thousands of components arriving weekly. Plastics go in one bin, wire in another bin and so on. Compacted material is shipped to businesses that focuses on recovering each raw material contained within the commodities. You don't have to worry about old love letters buried in your hard drive resurfacing. Valley City wipes out hard drives and can also shred them into pieces.
The process of deconstructing electronic goods is not as simple as it sounds – at least when it comes to making it environmentally safe.
Many older home computer monitors and large, bulky television sets are likely to have cathode ray tubes that create the images we see. CRTs often contain phosphors and leaded glass; not the sort of thing you handle haphazardly.
Far less ominous in terms of bulk are non-ferrous metals, including aluminum, copper and even a small amount of precious metals such as palladium -- a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal. Valley City also retrieves gold plating from tiny components such as computer pins and contacts.
Perry says he anticipates more recycling come April when e-waste recycling events start popping up. It is part of a state law requiring manufacturers to provide free and convenient recycling options for Michigan residents if they want to sell products here.
Retail heavy-weights such as Best Buy may have collection points at stores where people buying new computers can drop off their old ones, Kmiecik says, and it is up to the computer makers – not the retailers -- to set up that arrangement, based on his understanding of the law.
"I have to believe the Best Buys will have an arrangement with those companies, but I don't know how they're going to do it," he says. "They could have pallets full of these big, bulky materials."
"It's where we are headed as a society,'' Perry says. "Throwing old computers in the trash or dumping them along the river bank is not acceptable.''
Consumers cash in
Valley City's location across from the Grand River and a short distance from the Market Avenue exit off of Int. 196 makes it relatively easy to find. A sign on the front door directs e-store patrons to the retail entrance.
If you're a computer geek or someone looking for great deals, Valley City is an oasis of second-hand and refurbished wares. The place exudes e-harmony during its limited hours of operation Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Valley City's e-store may have whatever it is you need to build your own computer, fix a computer or to test-drive technology without paying the showroom price.
A complete home computer set-up, sans the operating system, costs about $100. A computer mouse might run $3. Bins hold a large assortment of CD-ROM drives, DVD drives, case fans and USB keyboards.
Another draw is its collection of hard-to-find items that may no longer be carried by chain stores, Perry says, "parts and pieces that are no longer carried or in stock.'' Valley City soon will offer operating systems with some of the computers so people can take them home and start using them immediately.
A fair number of computers have plenty of life left; especially ones that come from large corporations that routinely replace equipment every three to four years, Perry says. "There are some really terrific bargains.''
In addition to walk-in traffic, mom and pop businesses buy computers, install the operating systems and put them up for sale.
It is not unusual for a dozen or so people to be lined up outside the store before doors open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. Some come to fraternize with other like-minded techies while some want to scope out new arrivals.
"It's a popular place for a certain segment of the population,'' Perry says. "With more and more people fascinated with home electronics, it's an area we expect will grow.'' And that, he says, "is a good problem to have.''
Former Home & Garden Editor for The Grand Rapids Press, John Hogan is a journalist with more than two decades of professional experience covering everything from homicides to hostas.
Photos:
Valley City Environmental Services Inc (6)
Photographs by Brian Kelly -All Rights Reserved