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Grisanti-sponsored e-Waste collection event a success for Western New York

by jmaloni
Mon, Oct 8th 2012 02:55 pm

More than 2,000 cars drop off 80,000 pounds of electronics to be recycled

State Sen. Mark Grisanti has announced that more than 80,000 pounds of electronic waste was collected and recycled at a free event on Saturday at St. Amelia School. Grisanti hosted the drop-off in cooperation with SunnKing Electronic Recycling Inc.

Residents of Tonawanda and throughout Erie County dropped off items as small as computer keyboards and as large as copy machines and flat screen televisions. Volunteers from the Town of Tonawanda Aquettes assisted with the unloading of cars in an effort to move the process smoothly along throughout the day. The success of this inaugural event has organizers planning a second event for next year. 

"I am proud to have provided the citizens of Western New York with an easy way to empty out their basements or closets and responsibly recycle and dispose of e-Waste materials," said Grisanti, chairman of the Senate environmental conservation committee. "By orchestrating a convenient location to drop off these items, we have prevented them from being left at the curb and have helped make Western New York a cleaner, healthier place to live. The success of this event has us already discussing with SunnKing our next opportunity for collaboration."

The average wait time per vehicle was less than three minutes. There were more than 50 volunteers from Grisanti's office, local law firms, the University at Buffalo, Tonawanda Aquettes, and the community at large. The event filled three tractor-trailers worth of electronics.

New York state does not allow certain electronic products, including computers, cell phones, CD players, cameras, office machines, electronic games, to be thrown in with regular garbage. The law mandates proper disposal to keep materials such as lead, nickel, cadmium and mercury from negatively impacting human health and the environment. The recycling of these materials provides the opportunity to recover valuable materials, as well as helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, saving energy and other natural resources by extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.

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