Group items tagged

KING5.com brings you video from Seattle and Western Washington.

SEATTLE - A new state law that helps you get rid of your old electronics for free is hurting charities. Charities can no longer fix up old equipment to reuse it, but a brand new bill headed to the state legislature Wednesday could bring some relief. Representative Zack Hudgins' new bill aims to allow electronics collectors to make minor repairs so they can reuse old electronics. The current law is a problem for charities like Interconnection in Seattle. Since the new recycling law went into affect on January 1st, they now have to throw away hundreds of computers that could be put to good use. At Interconnection, you'll find trained hands tinkering with donated computers.

Maybe you just got a new TV or computer. Great. What's going to happen to the old one? You could sell it, donate it or recycle it. Just don't throw it in the trash."There are so many toxics in electronics it is very important that they be kept out of the landfill," said Tom Watson, King County's Eco-Consumer. He says those toxic materials include mercury, cadmium and lead. "In some of some of the older computer monitors and TVs, there are more than 4 pounds of lead in those," he said.

It's good for you and for the environment. A team of "Total Reclaim" soldiers glean what they can from old electronics, taking what's salvageable and safely processing the toxic materials within. "In particular, lead. Lead is found in the glass in televisions and monitors and it's also found in circuit boards in the solder," said Craig Lorch, Total Reclaim.