The County of Union will sponsor a recycling event for electronic equipment and unwanted personal documents on Saturday, Nov. 7, so Union County residents can get rid of unwanted computers, televisions and other electronic equipment and also shred old personal papers in an environmentally proper manner. This will be the final Union County-sponsored recycling event of 2009.
The special recycling and shredding event will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Schering-Plough facility located at 2000 Galloping Hill Road in Kenilworth. All residents of Union County are eligible to participate at no cost. There is a limit of six electronic items per car.
"Up to 95 percent of most electronic appliances can be recycled," said Freeholder Chester Holmes, liaison to the Union County Solid Waste Advisory Board. "Computer monitors and old televisions are the source of a considerable amount of lead – about five pounds per screen. This is a responsible way to keep hazardous heavy metals out of our environment."
Electronic equipment that will be accepted on Nov. 7 includes computer monitors, hard drives, modems, keyboards, CPU’s, mice, printers, scanners, speakers, televisions, VCR’s, fax machines, telephones, and circuit boards. All that residents need to do is drive to the site with their unwanted electronic equipment and personal documents. Workers at the site will unload the vehicles. Pre-registration is not required for this special Saturday collection. Refrigerators, washers and dryers, microwaves, and air conditioners will not be accepted. A complete list of the materials that will be accepted on Nov. 7 is available at the Union County Bureau of Planning and Environmental Conservation website: www.ucnj.org/recycle.
The electronics collection will be held rain or shine, for Union County residents only and not for businesses. There is a limit of six electronic items per vehicle. Proof of Union County residency is required.
In addition to the special Nov. 7 recycling event sponsored by the County of Union, there are other local opportunities for residents to recycle electronic equipment. Visit www.ucnj.org/recycle for more computer and electronics recycling options.
Liberty Document Security LLC of Union will be shredding unwanted personal documents at the site from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., rain or shine. The shredding event will end before 2 p.m. if the shredding truck reaches capacity. "This mobile document-shredding service helps Union County residents eliminate clutter in their homes and also fight identity theft," said Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella. "It is a cost-effective way to assist our recycling efforts and it ties in with our Go Green Initiatives."
All Union County residents are eligible to use the paper-shredding service. Documents should not be bound. Please remove plastic binders and paperclips. Residents should continue to recycle non-confidential papers and magazines with their municipal recycling program. Documents are put into 96-gallon containers provided by the shredding company. The items are then dumped onto a conveyor belt and put through the shredder. Participants are welcome to view the shredding process via a closed-circuit television. The shredded documents are then recycled, shipped to paper mills and used as pulp.
For more information about recycling events, please call the Union County Recycling Hotline at (908) 654-9889.