Tons of TV?s Dumped

Posted on: Oct 7th, 2015 | News and Announcements

Mobile County feels a lot lighter today after shedding 88 tons of TV?s and monitors during the four-day collection event at the Mobile County Recycling Center in west Mobile last weekend. At the same time, a Mobile County Clean Sweep event in West Mobile on Saturday collected 123 loads of rubbish and junk, filling two boom trucks and a dump truck with scrap metal for recycling. ?We believe our efforts help to keep our community clean and healthy,? said Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood. ?Plus we meet state and national goals to extend the life of our landfills.? ?These events demonstrate the demand in our community for a way to responsibly dispose of waste and unwanted items,? said Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson, adding that about 1,000 motorists participated in the four-day TV collection event. Traffic was steady all four days of the collection event, with each day bringing in more cars and trucks. Twelve 18-wheelers rolled in and out of the facility, loaded with monitors and televisions, some of them huge, big-box TVs that were long out of commission with no permanent place to be discarded. ?These televisions are composed of some toxic materials that will harm the environment if disposed in landfills,? said County Commission President Jerry Carl. ?The disposal service provides an avenue for residents to rid themselves of these items.? Goodwill Easter Seals, manager of the Mobile County Recycling Center, and Keep Mobile Beautiful helped with the event, providing manpower and publicity. The county hired Tradebe Environmental Services LLP to dispose of the items. Organized by the Mobile County Environmental Engineering Department, the collection event was funded by a federal environmental grant. The Mobile County Commission partnered with Goodwill Easter Seals last November to start the recycling operation in the 15,000 square-foot recycling center at 7450 Hitt Road. The Mobile County Commission built the facility and Goodwill Easter Seals operates it. The recycling center agreed to provide space for the special television collection event last weekend. The recycling center accepts most household recyclables, but does not take television sets because there is no secondary market for them now. In its 11 months of operations, however, the Mobile County Recycling Center has almost doubled recycling in Mobile, taking in an average of 84 tons of recyclables a month. ?We believe our efforts help to keep our community clean and healthy,? said Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood. ?Plus we meet state and national goals to extend the life of our landfills.? The Mobile County Commission will hold a hazardous waste event Dec. 12 at The Grounds, at Ziegler Boulevard and Cody Road, for paints, cleaners and other items. The event will not include televisions. ###