Electronics Recyclers Collecting A Lot More Under New Law
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The state of Illinois' new electronic recycling law appears to be taking a mega-bite out of landfills just in its first two months.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, Chris LaRocco of Recycle Tech Solutions in the Pullman neighborhood says his company took in 15,000 pounds of electronic waste in January, up from an average of 5,000 pounds the month before that.
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"We have 30 years' worth of electronics hiding out there in people's houses and storages and businesses, and it's starting to come to the surface," LaRocco said.
Karrie Gibson, owner of Vintage Tech Recycling, says her company took in more than 2 million pounds of e-waste last month.
"We've created, I think, 25 jobs at least, in January," Gibson said.
Under state law approved last year, old electronic devices can no longer go in the regular garbage. Previously, only computer monitors, printers and televisions were the only items that had to be diverted from the regular garbage, but the new law, which went into effect on New Year's Day, added keyboards, mp3 players, scanners, video game consoles and video media players.
Those who violate the rules can be fined between $1,000 and $7,000.
