My Clearwater
Winter l Spring 63
Give Electronic Waste a New Life
Every year, new electronics
are released with better
technology than the
year before. But what
becomes of the old devices?
In 2019, a record 13.1 million
metric tons of electronic waste was
produced by the United States. Electronic waste,
or e-waste, is the fastest growing domestic waste stream.
E-waste can create health and environmental hazards, as many
items contain mercury, lead, beryllium, flame retardants,
cadmium and other chemicals that can be harmful if they are
mishandled and end up in our soil, water and air.
Globally, only 10 percent of e-waste gets recycled properly,
leaving lots of precious metals and harmful chemicals
unaccounted for in municipal waste streams. For example,
for every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, recycling
processors can recover 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds
of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of
palladium. That’s a lot of valuable material
that could have gone to waste! And
who knows how much is already in
landfills.
What can you do to keep these
chemicals and pollutants out of
our environment? The city of
Clearwater no longer accepts
e-waste at the curb, but there
are a few options for disposal.
On the last Wednesday of
every month, Clearwater
accepts e-waste for recycling at
the Recycling Drop-Off Center,
located at 1701 N. Hercules Ave.
from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.
You can bring items such as old computers,
monitors, televisions, cell phones and tablets. These items are
recycled by separating out the raw materials, such as glass,
plastic and precious metals, then they are able to return those
materials to the supply chain.
If electronics are put into the
curbside trash or recycling bins,
they can cause fires, which is a major hazard
for our solid waste workers and can halt processing for
weeks at a time. In fact, last year Clearwater Solid Waste crews
experienced three such fires.
Keep everyone safe and reduce your impact on the
environment by properly recycling your electronics
when they are at the end of their life. If they
can be repaired, sold or donated for
someone else to use, that is another
great way to extend their life before
turning to recycling.
If you cannot transport your
e-waste, you can schedule a
pick-up with the Solid Waste
Department by calling 562-
4920. If you would like to
dispose of it immediately,
you can bring it to the Pinellas
County Household Electronics and
Chemical Collection Center at 2855
109th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Learn more about recycling in Clearwater at
myclearwater.com/recycling.
/recycling