New Liverpool e-waste depot opens

As of Feb. 1 computer equipment and televisions can no longer be disposed in the landfill.

The province, in partnership with electronic companies announced this plan a year ago.

With phase one now beginning, Wells Books owners Diane Wells and Jeri Bass have started a business called “Green Earth Reuse and Recycle.”

“We’ll start with about 30 hours a week,” Bass said, operating from Wednesday to Saturday out of unit three in the industrial mall off Harley Umphrey Drive in Liverpool.

Items can be dropped off, free of charge.

They also run an antique store.

“We’re really interested in recycling generally,” said Bass. “Whether it’s a used book or antiques, it’s all part of a second life of an object,” said Bass.

The electronics industry will charge a fee when a customer purchases a new product, added Bass, as the electronic industry is paying for this program.

Nova Scotia produces more than 4,500 tonnes of electronic waste annually.

Recyling plants in Ontario and Quebec will take the e-waste for now.

Bass commented the program may help the environment by not putting electronics in the landfill, but shipping this stuff so far away increases the “carbon footprint,” on the environment.

It will be good once an actual recycler is in the Maritimes, she added.

Phase two will begin Feb. 1, 2009.

Depots will then accept items such as cell phones and DVD players, said Bass.

Items currently accepted at all depots include desktop computers, laptop computers, monitors and televisions.

Other accepted items are computer keyboards, mice and cables along with printers and scanners.

Bass says the company hopes to expand into other recycling initiatives in the future.

For more information call Green Earth Reuse and Recycle at 350-0781.

They will do pick-ups for elderly people who cannot get to the depot, added Bass.