Habitat’s E Waste Program Ends

After keeping an estimated 750,000 pounds of electronics out of landfills, Door County Habitat for Humanity’s three-year-old E Waste Recycling Program has come to what everyone hopes is a temporary end.

Romeoville, Ill.-headquartered Vintage Tech Recyclers recently ended its e-cycling affiliation with all Habitat for Humanity organizations in Wisconsin, according to Sara Kierzek, executive director of Habitats for Humanity of Wisconsin.

“It’s a very popular program, judging by the thousands of pounds of material we collect,” Kierzek said. “Hopefully, we will find another recycler to work with.”

According to Todd Gibson of Vintage Tech Recyclers, the cost of recycling the material from Habitat for Humanity’s free recycling events grew too high for the company to absorb. “For us to service Habitat for Humanity, we have to charge a fee, and they chose not to pay any fees for service,” he said.

Vintage Tech also contracts with school districts throughout the state for their e-waste, and that service will continue.

The problem, according to Sarah Murray, E-Cycle coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, is that the popularity of the e-cycling programs around the state has resulted in higher costs for the recyclers, who want to pass those costs on to the recycling event coordinator, in this case, Habitat for Humanity.

She explained that, in accordance with Act 50, the state’s 2009 e-cycling legislation which outlawed the dumping of electronics in landfills, electronic manufacturers are required to register with the state, and then using a formula based on the number of electronic devices the manufacturer sells by weight, the manufacturer pays a certain amount for the future recycling of its products.

“The last couple of program years, overall the collection sites have been collecting more pounds than needed by the manufacturers,” Murray said. “If they’re collecting more than that, recyclers have to pass on the cost.”

In addition, with the growth of flat-screen technology, the cost of recycling the leaded cathode-ray tubes of old-school televisions and computer monitors has gone up.

All of which, Murray said, “We’ll be looking at from a policy standpoint.”

In the meantime, rural areas are always going to have a harder time getting rid of electronic waste. Residents of urban areas can tap into electronic recycling programs at Best Buy, Staples and Goodwill Industries.

The E Waste Recycling Program of Door County Habitat for Humanity has generated more than $36,000 to support Habitat’s affordable housing activities. 

“Not only will we be unable to hold large-scale E Waste recycling events, we are forced to immediately end our collection of electronic waste at the ReStore,” said Leslie Boden, ReStore manager and coordinator of Habitat’s recycling activities. “This is a setback for the community, a threat to the environment, and a loss of revenue to support our affordable housing programs. We could not be more disappointed. We are annoyed that we could not give more notice to the community, but as of Aug. 7, we will no longer be able to accept any electronic recycling items or conduct any of the previously scheduled free recycling events.”

The next E Waste event was planned for Sister Bay on Aug. 30^, followed by an October event in Sturgeon Bay.

“We are disappointed that we cannot carry out the recycling programs planned for Sister Bay and Sturgeon Bay, but our hands are tied,” said Rick Nelson, executive director of Door County Habitat for Humanity. “We know that Door County residents, who have come to rely on our program, will share our disappointment and concern.” 

Boden said, “We see this as a temporary setback, but one that we will overcome. We are confident that we will soon be able to announce the rebirth of our E Waste recycling program, possibly with an alternative recycler, but always with an eye to responsibly protecting the environment.” 

Habitat has begun to search for new partners that would be willing to ethically and economically recycle unwanted electronics and will inform the community as soon as it is able to get the E Waste Program back up and running. Until then, the public may consider the following recycling resources:

Sturgeon Bay Department of Public Works (for Sturgeon Bay residents only):  920.746.2912

Little Hoppers:  920.746.7434

On Aug. 23, from 8 am to noon, Baylake Bank Sister Bay Financial Center has arranged with Cyber Green to recycle used electronics as a fundraiser for the United Way of Door County. They take almost anything with a plug, including unused cell phones, laptops, radios, etc.; monitors, TVs and consoles cost a minimal fee. Cyber Green also guarantees your safety by wiping and shredding your hard drive. Rain or shine, they will be at Baylake Bank, 2438 S. Bay Shore Drive. A portion of the proceeds will benefit United Way. More at cybergreenllc.com or 920.854.2326.