ROCK ISLAND, MILAN Illinois and DAVENPORT, Iowa -
We are now two weeks into the new digital age of TV and it's caused a chain reaction. Quad City Recycling Centers have seen an increase in people unloading their old, outdated TVs. But not everyone is dropping them off at the right place.
Paper, cardboard and plastic can all be recycled at this drop off site.
But Joan Gurse who is dropping of her paper points to mattresses and glass, "See that junk they're leaving, they're not suppose to leave that."
Sometimes people are dropping off the wrong things.
Gurse continues, "I have a lot of grandchildren I don't want the landfills to be a mess."
But right now Rock Island County Waste Management's staff coordinator, Laura Berkley says recycling has become a mess--20% of garbage is ending up in these big blue bins.
"I just want to get people to know what's recyclable, what's not recyclable and just have people recycle responsibly."
Like Gurse who knows what shouldn't be dumped.
"TVs, toilets, paint cans which are supposed to be taken to the other places to recycle."
If this isn't the place to bring a TV to die, then where's the Rock Island County TV graveyard?
One graveyard is Cowboy's Reliable Recycling, Calvin Fisher will pick up your TV for $25 or you can drop it off for $2. Since the DTV transition it's difficult to determine how many he's recycled.
"When you're not used to that many TVs coming in and all of a sudden you get bombarded with TVs, 50 to 100 percent they've been coming in."
The other larger graveyard or crematorium is the Scott County E-waste Center that's free for Rock Island County residents who drop off and for Scott County residents who have it picked up curbside. Anyone else can drop off for $.20 a pound. The center has seen a 56% increase in TVs.
Erin Robinson the center's communication coordinator says, "Everything inside a TV even the outside of a TV gets recycled. We have a market for everything so it's valuable and it can be turned into new things."
All of these parts will now be recycled and kept out of a landfill.
But if you dump your TV at a Rock Island County recycling drop off site, the county says it doesn't get recycled. So while you may think you are doing a good thing you are adding to the landfill.
Waste Commission of Scott County's Scott Area Recycling Center is located at 5640 Carey Ave., Davenport IA.
Cowboys Reliable Recycling is located at 530 10th Ave. West in Milan, IL.
And for more information about what's recyclable go to Rock Island County Waste Management Agency http://www.ricwma.org/.
Paper, cardboard and plastic can all be recycled at this drop off site.
But Joan Gurse who is dropping of her paper points to mattresses and glass, "See that junk they're leaving, they're not suppose to leave that."
Sometimes people are dropping off the wrong things.
Gurse continues, "I have a lot of grandchildren I don't want the landfills to be a mess."
But right now Rock Island County Waste Management's staff coordinator, Laura Berkley says recycling has become a mess--20% of garbage is ending up in these big blue bins.
"I just want to get people to know what's recyclable, what's not recyclable and just have people recycle responsibly."
Like Gurse who knows what shouldn't be dumped.
"TVs, toilets, paint cans which are supposed to be taken to the other places to recycle."
If this isn't the place to bring a TV to die, then where's the Rock Island County TV graveyard?
One graveyard is Cowboy's Reliable Recycling, Calvin Fisher will pick up your TV for $25 or you can drop it off for $2. Since the DTV transition it's difficult to determine how many he's recycled.
"When you're not used to that many TVs coming in and all of a sudden you get bombarded with TVs, 50 to 100 percent they've been coming in."
The other larger graveyard or crematorium is the Scott County E-waste Center that's free for Rock Island County residents who drop off and for Scott County residents who have it picked up curbside. Anyone else can drop off for $.20 a pound. The center has seen a 56% increase in TVs.
Erin Robinson the center's communication coordinator says, "Everything inside a TV even the outside of a TV gets recycled. We have a market for everything so it's valuable and it can be turned into new things."
All of these parts will now be recycled and kept out of a landfill.
But if you dump your TV at a Rock Island County recycling drop off site, the county says it doesn't get recycled. So while you may think you are doing a good thing you are adding to the landfill.
Waste Commission of Scott County's Scott Area Recycling Center is located at 5640 Carey Ave., Davenport IA.
Cowboys Reliable Recycling is located at 530 10th Ave. West in Milan, IL.
And for more information about what's recyclable go to Rock Island County Waste Management Agency http://www.ricwma.org/.
