During the Chaffee Board of County Commissioners’ work session on Monday, Chaffee Landfill Manager Shannon Wilcox announced that as of July 13, the landfill can once again accept electronics. The news comes after several months of not being able to process the electronic discards, due to the loss of the landfill’s electronic recycling arrangement.
E-waste image courtesy of The Atlantic.
Electronics are handled differently than other trash items, as they contain components and rare earth minerals that can be recycled and should not normally be placed in landfills.
According to the landfill’s accounting office, the landfill will accept electronics at the following disposal fees:
E-waste .60 ton
Small electronic screens of 19 inches or less: $10
Flat screen TVs: $20
TV monitors of less than 30 inches: $20
TV monitors of more than 30 inches: $40
During the past several months as the state – and the county– have dealt with the pandemic through stay-at-home and safer-at-home orders, the landfill has seen fairly steady use, as people spending more time at home have sorted and cleaned up and organized their homes.
From a recycling standpoint, Mickey Barry, co-owner of Angel of Shavano Recycling in Poncha Springs, noted that the market for recyclables like aluminum is saturated. “The price is down for aluminum – the mills are full – our bins are filling up and there is more volume. We’ve seen lots more of the commercial sector using the drop sites as well. But it’s high volume, low value.”
He added that what he is seeing is the microbreweries switching from glass to aluminum, plus with people staying home more they’re drinking at home rather than in bars.”They can make ten different kinds of beer and use the same can,” said Barry. “They can ship more with less breakage [than glass]. It’s the same thing that happened with catsup.”
The Chaffee Landfill on U.S. 285 is open from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 pm. Monday through Saturday. Angel of Shavano also manages recycling pickup centers in Buena Vista and Salida.
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