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EAC: Electronics Recycling Changes Will Lead To More Reliable System

Staff
/
WGLT
McLean County residents will continue to have access to the Town of Normal’s electronics recycling dropoff site on Warriner Street.";

The Ecology Action Center said Tuesday that McLean County residents will soon have a more “reliable and sustainable” e-waste recycling option even after two nonprofits stop accepting old TVs and computers.

Home Sweet Home Ministries and Habitat for Humanity ReStore will no longer accept e-waste for recycling as of June 1, the Ecology Action Center (EAC) said. But McLean County residents will continue to have access to the Town of Normal’s electronics recycling dropoff site on Warriner Street.

And while Bloomington and rural McLean County residents have been able to use that site for years, it will soon become a formal communitywide e-waste collection point through a new state law called the Consumer Electronics Recycling Act (CERA). That will lower the cost of running the site, said Michael Brown, executive director of the EAC.

Still, Normal will soon get some help with the remaining costs of running the site, which is open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the first Saturday of each month (mornings only). The Bloomington City Council recently voted to kick in $13,377 per year. The McLean County Board could do the same as soon as July. (Normal officials considered closing the dropoff if other local governments didn’t help pay for it.)

The changes at Home Sweet Home and the ReStore are “due to both the loss of previous revenue potential from e-waste recycling” as well as the new state law. Other electronics recycling options in McLean County include Goodwill and Best Buy, though some restrictions apply.

These sites only collect residential e-waste. Businesses must dispose of their waste at their own cost through a private vendor.

The new state law will improve access to e-waste recycling in other communities, said Brown.

“McLean County residents have been fortunate,” the EAC said in a statement. “In more rural areas of Illinois, some residents currently have to drive hundreds of miles to find an e-waste recycling dropoff.”

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Ryan Denham is the digital content director for WGLT.
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