Grafton Township Hosts E-Waste Recycling, Shredding Event

Do you have old computers to throw away or piles of documents that need shredding? Grafton Township is hosting an Electronic Waste Recycling and Free Shredding event this weekend.

You can bring your electronic waste and documents to the township office from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Sept. 24. The office is located at 10109 Vine St., Huntley.

“It’s insane to think about the amount of waste that’s being generated,” said Mel Nickerson, an attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center in Chicago and co-author of Illinois’ e-waste law.

Beginning next year, the Illinois law bans e-waste from landfills. Effective January 2012, a local garbage company will start leaving electronics at the curbside rather than collecting them to put in the landfills.

E-waste is the fastest-growing segment of the nation’s garbage, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

An Illinois law that took effect last year requires electronics manufacturers to achieve recycling goals, but they’re falling short of benchmarks that were already lower than those in other states.  Trying to meet the law’s benchmarks, manufacturers contract with recyclers and report the weight of collected items to the Illinois EPA.

Grafton Township will have an on-site document shredding truck available at no cost to participants.  Please bring your paper in a paper bag.  All electronic items that do not have a compressor will be accepted. No early or late drop offs, please.

Residency is not required to take advantage of this bi-annual event.

Contact Com2 at 815-254-3535 or Grafton Township Supervisor Linda Moore at 847-669-3328 with any questions. Visit the township’s website for more information or would like to volunteer to assist with uploading electronics from cars as items are dropped off.