Published: April 02, 2009 10:38 pm      

‘Bring us your tired electronics refuse’

Free E-waste recycling now available Fridays at Eastern’s tech center

MOOREFIELD — As the electronic age pulses ever onward, communities need to deal with an increasingly troublesome problem: What to do with E-waste?

“By ‘E-waste’ we mean the whole bunch of electronic products that have outlasted their useful life,” said Bob MacPhail, CEO of the Comprehensive Occupational Assessment Testing and Educational Services (COATES), LLC.

“That includes old computers and related computer equipment, televisions, VCRs, stereos, cell phones, phone systems and most telecommunications equipment, copiers, fax machines and scanners — among others.”

Electronics garbage now looms as one of the nation’s fastest growing waste-stream segments — and a dangerous one. Much of it contains hazardous materials that threaten the environment, such as lead, mercury, selenium, cadmium, arsenic, zinc, brominated flame retardants — and, in older equipment, cathode ray tubes and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs.

But because technicians can reuse, refurbish, or recycle many of these products, MacPhail has come up with a “win-win’’ solution for local residents.

“Go Green!” he urged. “Bring in all your junk electronic goods Fridays to our new E-waste recycling office in Moorefield.”

Together with Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College, WorkForce West Virginia, and Freedom Electronics, COATES, MacPhail’s non-profit educational firm, have joined forces to launch “Go Green!”, a free, electronics recycling service. The service is located in Eastern’s Technology Training Center, at 500 Spring Ave., Moorefield. For more information — especially for products containing glass, which may require special handling — call MacPhail at (304) 813-7220.

Petersburg’s Richard Moore Jr., a leading student in South Branch Career and Technical Center’s second-semester Networking class, staffs the recycling service Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We’ll take the old electronics, take out the parts that might be re-usable, and recycle the rest as raw materials,” Moore said. “Or if they want us to try to restore the equipment, we’ll see if we can fix them up as a side job.”

If folks just want to get rid of old electronics, Go Green! will repair what they can and donate restored goods to schools or libraries. Beyond that, Moore will separate out batteries for recycling, then the plastics, circuit boards and wiring bundles — all of them sorted out and boxed by raw material.

“And there’s also a very small amount of gold-plating still salvageable,” MacPhail said.

Moore, 19 years old, graduated from Petersburg High School in 2008. After consulting with Mike Reel at the West Virginia Department of Rehabilitation Services, he decided to train for a career as a computer technician. As part of that training, Moore learned to assemble computers in “Build It, Keep It, Share It,’’ a program developed by Mission West Virginia and supported in the Potomac Highlands by COATES. “And that’s how I met Bob MacPhail,” he said.

Impressed with Moore’s skills and work ethic, MacPhail asked him to work at ‘Go Green!’ “We’ve been operating the service for just about one month,” MacPhail said, “and we’re collecting a good stream of hardware. We’ve got our first trailer-full just about ready to haul to Williamsport.”

All the retirable parts will go to Freedom Electronics, a no landfill/no export recycling facility in Williamsport, Md., for recovery of raw materials.

In 2007, according to the Wood County News-Sentinel, similar programs throughout the state diverted some 138 tons of electronic waste — 13 tractor-trailers full — from West Virginia landfills to recycling centers.

“So bring us your worn, tired electronics refuse, yearning for recycling and recovery,” MacPhail said, “and together we will fight to preserve our beautiful and beloved Potomac Highlands free from chemical toxins for our future generations.”