E-Waste Recycling Now Available at Transfer Station

For as long as residents in Durham and Middlefield have been throwing away trash, they've never had a place in town to dump their old T-V's or outdated computers or unused cell phones.

Until now.

On Friday, July 15, the Durham-Middlefield began accepting electronic waste, better known as e-waste.

For years, electronic items were dumped with all other trash, and more recently e-waste had to be taken to drop off locations, where it would eventually be recycled by someone else.

Throwing away e-waste at the transfer station is free, at least for now.

Currently the transfer station accepts televisions, computers, printers, monitors, laptops, stereos, cellphones and just about anything else electronic.

Other items, such as batteries and lightbulbs, are not accepted as e-waste, at least not yet.

"We're finding that there's so many people that have been storing these things, we're so busy just trying to get rid of them," said Dom DelVecchio, who chairs the Durham Middlefield Interlocal Agreement Advisory Board (DMIAAB).

During their meeting Thursday evening, board members discussed the possibility of capping the number of e-waste items residents can throw away during a single trip due to space constraints at the facility on Cherry Hill Road.

DelVecchio said because the towns will be charged to dispose of items like lightbulbs and batteries, a fee structure needs to be worked out before the transfer station can begin accepting the items.

No decision was made.

"Anything electronic can be accepted," he said.

Since July 1, more than 500 residents have purchased new stickers for the transfer station, which now cost $20.

DMIAAB is currently working to provide composting programs to reduce the amount of general trash residents throw away. Stay tuned to Patch for details.