KINGWOOD — Rain and road repair on Tunnelton Street didn’t discourage e-recyclers Saturday. Cars lined up by 7:30 a.m., and by 8 a.m., county residents lined East Price Street, waiting to recycle their electronics.
Preston County Administrator Shannon Wolfe said more than 50,000 pounds of electronics were turned in last year. She said she believed this year would be the same or better.
“The county received a Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan grant,” Wolfe said. “Solid Waste has already applied for next year.”
2018 was the first year the county organized the event. It was previously organized by the City of Kingwood. Only residents of Preston County are eligible to participate.
This year, Infinite Electronics Recycling, of Weirton, provided the service for the county.
“This is our first time in Preston County,” Paul Dorsey, assistant manager for IER, said. “We are estimating getting between 40,000 and 50,000 pounds. This is the first time I have had two trucks at a site.”
Dorsey said IER does in-house recycling and sends some items to other sites to be dismantled and recycled.
“We refurbish some of the computers and sell them,” he said. “We either wipe or replace the hard drives, put in new RAM and refurbish them.”
He said 70% of the computers the company receives are old. Thirty percent can be refurbished.
“We get computers from hospitals and schools,” Dorsey said. “If there is nothing wrong with them, they are refurbished. By refurbishing used items, you are not polluting landfills.”
County Litter Officer Jay Sowers said e-recycling is a tremendous help in his job.
“Dragging up a TV that’s been thrown over the hill is difficult,” he said. “They are heavy. I would like to see them hold e-recycling more than once a year.”
Sowers said it would be nice if the county had a storage building for old electronics.
“People could come in and drop their old electronics off year round,” he said. “We could have someone that picked them up. It would save a lot of work.”
Wolfe said 14 ChalleNGe Academy cadets helped unload and stack items.
“They have come and helped for the last few years,” she said.
Wolfe said six city workers, two county workers and two IER employees helped with Saturday’s e-recycling event.
To Contact IER about e-recycling events or to purchase refurbished computers, call 304-914-3367 or visit IER.com.
