The Washington State Recycling Association (WSRA), a nonprofit organization representing the state’s diverse recycling industry, presents their first Washington Recycles Every Day (WRED) event of the year, “LightRecycle Washington Goes Live!” This educational workshop will take place on Thursday, July 30 from 8:45 am to 3:30 pm at the Georgetown Campus of South Seattle Community College.
The LightRecycle Washington program began in early 2015 and has established over 275 collection sites in the state of Washington for the recycling of mercury containing lamps such as fluorescent tubes and CFLs. Individuals and businesses can drop off up to 10 mercury-containing lights per day for free. LightRecycle Washington is the first program of its kind in the country that is funded through an Environmental Handling Charge (EHC) which is added to the cost of lights being purchased at retail. Currently, the EHC is 25 cents per light. “For years, people have wanted to recycle lights but found it to be too inconvenient or too expensive. The goal of LightRecycle Washington is to make it easy and free to recycle mercury-containing lights throughout Washington State” Says LightRecycle WA program manager, Peter Thermos.
This WRED event will provide attendees with a greater understanding of a “producer responsibility” recycling program such as LightRecycle and will offer an in depth look at the legislation that created the program, the role of manufacturers, and how the program is financed and how it operates. Participants will hear from experts on the program including representatives from collection sites like McLendon Hardware and curbside collectors, Recology CleanScapes. The event will conclude with a tour of EcoLights Northwest, the recycling company that processes the lights collected by LightRecycle WA.
This event is open to the public and includes lunch, topic discussions and networking opportunities with leaders in Washington’s recycling industry. Students and professors in the environmental science fields, as well as young environmental professionals are highly encouraged to participate. Registration <http://www.wsra.net/event/WREDLightRecycle> costs are as follows: WSRA members $65, Non-members $85, students with a valid student ID $35.
To register for this event or for more information, visit www.wsra.net or call the WSRA office at (206) 244-0311.