By Jordan Puckett
Sun staff
Global Environmental Services is partnering with Jungle Jim’s International Market to sponsor a free electronics recycling event in the Jungle Jim’s parking lot on Saturday, June 1 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
GES has been in business since 2008. They are certified to recycle electronics and have done free recycling events in the past for schools, charities, and counties. “If we can reuse equipment, we certainly will,” says GES Director of Business Development, Chuck Landreville. He says all data is erased from items such as computers and cell phones. If the data cannot be erased, the device is broken down and recycled in pieces.
“Most folks at Jungle Jim’s are into recycling and reusing,” Landreville said regarding the location of the event. He said the store uses a lot of recycled material and reuses other materials in creative ways. Examples include an old deli case as a jewelry display case, tables and benches from King’s Island, and the monorail from the safari at King’s Island.
GES can accept items such as computers, monitors, printers, ink/toner cartridges, battery backups, home entertainment, gaming systems, cell phones, fax/copy machines, televisions, wire/cables, mice, keyboards, and other items. GES cannot accept appliances or hazardous waste materials. To recycle these, contact local recycling centers.
According to the Department of Environmental Quality, electronic waste is a direct consequence of our ongoing desire to communicate from anywhere, connect more often and compute from home, office or on the road. Electronics are being manufactured at an increasingly high rate as the demand for higher quality devices continues.
Old, damaged, or replaced items tend to be put in landfills. This is directly harmful to the environment, as the vast majority of these devices contains harmful substances like lead, beryllium, selenium, cadmium, chromium, barium, and mercury, among many others. Many of the devices also contain fire retardant chemicals that are also hazardous. In landfills, these harmful substances are absorbed into the environment. Harmful “landfill gases” are given off in mass quantities and chemicals can leak through the ground and pollute the groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency claims more than 80 percent of landfills have these dangerous leaks.
Besides protecting the environment, there are other incentives to keep electronics out of landfills. These devices can be easily reused, whether as a whole or in parts. They contain valuable components that would lessen the production costs of new products. This would theoretically reduce the retail price on the new products as well.
Representatives from GES will be at the site to collect electronics and to offer information and electronics recycling. To participate, enter from the west entrance off Eastgate Blvd to Eastgate Square Drive. Each car that participates in the free recycling event will receive a $2 Jungle Jim’s gift certificate. For more information, contact GES at (502) 570-8545.