E-waste galore at annual affair

Old computers, printers, televisions and other electronics were gathered at the county's annual E-waste event last Saturday. Organizers said the event was a complete success. Organized by Kathy Conlin with Sanders County with help from Dusti Johnson with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and hosted at the Thompson Falls Transfer site, the event drew people from across the county. The recycling was done by 406 Recycling, a licensed electronic recycler through the DEQ. 406 Recycling is located just south of Helena and provides recycling services throughout western Montana.

According to Johnson, "we are always proud to partner with communities to make responsible recycling work in rural Montana." Matt Elsaesser, owner of 406 Recycling, said "it was great to work with the Thompson Falls team that made this a successful event. It was amazing to see all the materials schools brought to the event and see how much the community brought in on Saturday!"

They loaded the truck provided to transport the recyclable materials full on Saturday and will be getting the resulting weight within a week. Since the first collection in 2014, the event has recycled nearly 30 tons of electronic trash, taking on 9.79 tons that first year. The weight has been constantly decreasing every year, showing that there is less and less accumulated electronic garbage in the county. This year the participants were surprised to see how much the community could still bring out, especially from the schools.

Refuse district employees encourage locals to use the year-round recycling services that the site has for items like corrugated cardboard, aluminum cans, metal, vehicle oil and vehicle batteries. For more information or to learn more about recycling in Sanders County, call 827-6942.