County proposes TV disposal fee

SANDPOINT — Bonner County is proposing a $12 fee to dispose of television sets at waste collection sites.

The fee is being proposed because the destination for Bonner County’s solid waste is north-central Oregon, a state which is poised to implement a ban on the disposal of television sets and other e-waste in its landfills.

The county’s solid waste goes to Waste Management’s Columbia Ridge landfill outside Arlington, Ore. That state’s electronics recycling law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

Solid Waste Director Leslie Marshall said TVs collected in Bonner County will be diverted to United Recycling in Oldtown, which charges a $12 per TV set fee. United specializes in the recycling of discarded, surplus or broken electronic devices and equipment.

“This would be the actual cost for us to get rid of them,” county commission Chairman Joe Young said of the proposed fee.

The fee would apply to television sets of all types and sizes.

A public hearing on the proposed fee is planned for Dec. 15.

E-waste can contain contaminates such as lead, cadmium, mercury and beryllium. Oregon adopted its electronics recycling law in 2007, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality.

The Oregon law applies to TV sets, monitors, desktop computers and laptops.

Marshall said United accepts the county’s e-waste free of charge, although it charges a fee for televisions because they have no recycling value.