Burr Ridge is close to inking a deal that would establish a permanent electronics recycling station in the village.
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The station, the first of its kind in DuPage County, would be located at the village’s Public Works Building, which is in the High Grove Industrial Park.
Village administrator Steve Stricker said he hopes to have an agreement between Burr Ridge and DuPage County to present to trustees at the Aug. 22 Village Board meeting.
The drop-off site would be open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and accept all electronics, except televisions and monitors, free of charge. TVs and monitors would require a $20 or $25 disposal fee. Many electronics recycling programs don’t even accept TVs and monitors, Stricker said, because landfills no longer accept the items.
Stricker said the county has been looking for permanent sites for electronics recycling and he jumped at the chance to get one established in Burr Ridge.
“This will give our residents and residents of the region a place to dispose of electronics,” Stricker said.
The village administrator said the drop-off would be monitored by an individual from a private company and that village staff time in the effort would be minimal. He said public works staff may need to spend 15 to 20 minutes per day moving pallets filled with electronics to a secured location.
Mayor Mickey Straub said the program would be a benefit for the village and noted that a May electronics recycling event sponsored by state. Sen. Christine Radogno and state Rep. Jim Durkin at Burr Ridge Middle School “was non-stop.” He expected similar activity at a permanent Burr Ridge site.
No other items besides electronics would be accepted at the site, Stricker said.
A representative of the Environmental Division of the DuPage County Building and Zoning department confirmed that details are being worked out on a permanent electronics recycling station in Burr Ridge. The representative said it would be the first permanent site rolled out under a new model. There have been previous permanent electronics sites, she said, but those have closed.
Right now in DuPage County, there are three sites — Lisle, Wheaton and Downers Grove Township — that accept electronics from more than just residents, but collections are only done once per month. Electronics drop-offs for residents only are conducted in Addison, Addison Township, Bloomingdale Township, Villa Park and West Chicago.
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.