TV disposal fee adopted

SANDPOINT — Tossing a television will set you back $12 at Bonner County waste collection sites starting next year.

The county commission put the disposal fee into effect following a public hearing on Dec. 16. The fee is being enacted because the county’s solid waste is trucked to Oregon, a state which is adopting a law forbidding the disposal of TVs and other electronics waste.

The $12 fee takes effect on Jan. 1, 2010. After that date, it will be illegal to dispose of a television set in a Dumpster that is not labeled for e-waste.

Oregon’s law banning the dumping of e-waste in a landfill goes into effect the same day. The state adopted the law because e-waste is known to contain heavy metals which pose safety risks for workers and can leach from landfills.

Garbage from Bonner County is taken to Waste Management’s Columbia Ridge landfill outside Arlington, Ore. Televisions collected here will be diverted to Oldtown’s United Recycling, which already processes the county’s e-waste.

A fee is charged for TVs because they are the costliest form of e-waste to dispose of.

For more information, call Bonner County Public Works at 255-5681.