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Electronic Waste day overwhelms volunteers

Organizers of the second annual Electronic Waste Round-Up in the Sea to Sky corridor knew they would be busy, but had no idea just how much waste they would accept. On Oct.

Organizers of the second annual Electronic Waste Round-Up in the Sea to Sky corridor knew they would be busy, but had no idea just how much waste they would accept.

On Oct. 22, a group of 25 volunteers collected electronic waste such as computers, monitors, cell phones, audio visual equipment and other electronic "stuff" at collection sites in Pemberton, Whistler and Squamish.

By the end of the day they had collected 22 palettes of residential electronic waste in four hours, enough to fill a tractor-trailer with material. That’s double what was collected last year.

The items will be 100 per cent recycled by Genesis Recycling in Vancouver, diverting toxic materials like mercury, bromine, cadmium and lead from the landfill and groundwater. Marc Zurbuchen, Whistler’s One-Tonne Challenge Co-ordinator, also estimates that the program saved approximately 10 tonnes of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere.

"Judging by the huge success of this event, it seems as though corridor residents are conscious of their waste’s impact on the environment and are waiting for these kinds of opportunities to dispose of it."

The sponsors of the round-up were the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Carney’s Waste Systems and the Pemberton Chamber of Commerce. The Rotary Club of Whistler Millennium also collected used cell phones. The club receives $1 for every cell phone.

While the e-waste round-up is over for this year you can still drop off any unwanted cell phones at Whistler Audio Visual (Nesters and Function Junction) or Boston Pizza in Creekside.

Businesses interested in recycling electronics should contact Genesis Recycling at 604-607-117 or visit www.genesis recycling.ca.