KINGWOOD — Although the county-wide e-cycling event didn’t begin until 8 a.m., Kingwood City Clerk Mary Howell said vehicles were lining up as early as 7:05 a.m. County residents lined East Price Street early Saturday morning waiting to recycle their electronics.
Since 2005, PC Renewal, located in Morgantown, has provided e-recycling services for Preston County, according to Susan Crosco, who owns the electronics recycling and computer services company with her husband, Carl.
“We’re here to offer our expertise and help the county this year,” Howell said.
This is the first year the event was organized by the Preston County Commission. The city of Kingwood previously hosted the events.
“We provided six employees to help with traffic flow and check identification. Kingwood Parks and Recreation donated the space,” Howell said. Only residents of Preston county were eligible to participate in the event.
County Administrator Kathy Mace said the county couldn’t provide the recycling service without the City of Kingwood. She said the county commission applied for and received a $9,170 WVDEP grant. It was used to help fund an e-cycling vendor, print fliers, advertising and labor for a county-wide collection event.
Many of the items brought to the event were televisions and old CRT monitors. County Commissioner Dave Price said he wasn’t surprised by the number of TV’s and CRT’s that were being dropped off.
“It’s difficult for people to dispose of these. Technology changes so fast,” he said. “People wait for these events. I want to thank the ChalleNGe Academy, the City of Kingwood and the volunteers who helped make the event a success,” he said.
Squad Leader Mariann Taylor said 14 cadets from the ChalleNGe Academy helped unload items and stack them. The cadets also helped sort items brought to the recycling area. “They (cadets) were disappointed when they saw it looked like rain,” Taylor said. “They thought they wouldn’t be able to come and help. They are happy to be here helping.”
Crosco said he estimates Saturday’s electronic recycling event netted about 40,000 pounds of electronics. He said computers dropped off that cannot be refurbished have their hard drives shredded and are sent to a recycling plant in the United States. TV’s are dismantled.
“We pay to get rid of them,” he said. All discarded equipment is either shipped to an EPA-certified facility that recycles and/or reuses it, or is rebuilt and re-marketed by PC Renewal.
For more information about e-cycling unwanted electronics, call 304-291-8550 or email pcrenewal@comcast.net/. PC Renewal is located at 3848 Grafton Road, Morgantown.
