One of 25 states that have electronic recycling laws, Illinois updated its existing law in 2017, establishing the Consumer Electronics Recycling Act. The law put in place a statewide system for recycling and reusing unwanted electronics. It requires electronics manufacturers to share in the management and financial responsibility of doing so. Mary Allen, recycling and education director at the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, said the drive for recycling electronics comes down to conservation and environmental health.
“The whole idea behind recycling electronics is that anything that is made comes from a resource our earth provides. The metals and the glass both have recoverability as well as potential toxicity — for the heavy metals, for the mercury, for the cadmium in some of the old TVs and monitors,” Allen said. “It’s important from an environmental standpoint to try and recover what we can, and certainly to do safe disposal or recycling of the components that can harm our land, air or water.”
Allen has been working on electronics recycling for more than 20 years. Before the law came in force, the Solid Waste Agency partnered with Motorola to fund and host annual drop-off days for residents at either Motorola’s Schaumburg or Arlington Heights campus. “In 2000, we had 2,400 cars that came. It was on that cusp of Y2K when people were freaking out about their electronics not working, which just raised the awareness of the need and the desire to recycle them,” she said.