Landfill rejects

For the computers and tv's it is either smash them into smithereens and put them in the garbage or take to goodwill. Tires let tire shop keep. Paint cans keep stacking up in the back shed.
 
Speaking of recycling old TVs, I've got a 14-year old 60" rear projection unit that I would like to dispose of properly... but it's so heavy and bulky that it's nearly impossible to load into a truck even with the help of someone else. I've been thinking of using some power tools to cut it into smaller pieces which would then be much easier to haul away to the recycling center. I know there are parts inside that contain hazardous chemicals, but if I cut it up carefully I think I can keep those parts intact. Anyone else faced this particular problem, and if so how did you deal with it?
 
RetireAge50 said:
For the computers and tv's it is either smash them into smithereens and put them in the garbage or take to goodwill. Tires let tire shop keep. Paint cans keep stacking up in the back shed.
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Paint cans of latex paint can be thrown in the trash if you add some cat litter first to soak it up.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
 
One word: "Yardapult"

For those that don't remember (or don't have one) here's the video.
Watch Yard-a-pult From Saturday Night Live - NBC.com

In a variation, my town went to those big covered trash bins; it didn't go well.

They found that older people couldn't wheel them around and instead were dropping off their trash in little bags at McDonald's, the library, gas stations all over town.
 
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I had a large brush pile to burn...I poured my leftover paint all over the sticks and stuff, a little at a time, til the cans were empty, then dried them in the sun and put them in the trash. The cans were more than half empty to start with so it diddn't take to long...

I noticed that people drop the old CRT teevees off at the Salvation Army drop boxes, in spite of the the signs saying nothing to be left outside the box. I was dropping clothes off one day while the SA truck was picking up stuff, they just loaded the TeeVees into the truck so they must have a place to get rid of them, or, if they still work, I guess people will make use of them....

For old electronic equipment....take it out in the yard, cover it with thick tarp and smash it up into pieces, then put it into the garbage. Same with CRT's...cover with a heavy tarp, shoot the screen, break it up into pieces and get rid of it in the garbage.

Shouldn't have to be so difficult. I have no idea what I'll do with my projection TeeVee when it goes. No one will take it. I suppose it's gonna get shot and whacked too, if I can figure out a way to get it out into the yard.
 
It is VERY shortsighted of the local governments to refuse these items. They will end up back in the woods somewhere and cost 10x the money to clean up after they leak into the ground.

But hey, who said local governments are smart?
 
Fermion said:
It is VERY shortsighted of the local governments to refuse these items. They will end up back in the woods somewhere and cost 10x the money to clean up after they leak into the ground.
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You mean like this?

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Or this:
 

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A quick thought about radioactive materials in smoke detectors ended like this: " we must live in their presence forever, but can't bury them in the garbage" .

That thought set my meter off. I came across this:

"The radiation dose to the occupants of a house from a domestic smoke detector is essentially zero, and in any case very much less than that from natural background radiation. The alpha particles are absorbed within the detector, while most of the gamma rays escape harmlessly. The small amount of radioactive material that is used in these detectors is not a health hazard and individual units can be disposed of in normal household waste"

Smoke Detectors and Americium - World Nuclear Association
 
Our landfill still accepts electronics on Saturdays.

Our problem is that we no longer have a truck, nor could we lift the old TVs into it, if we did have one. We're just not as strong as we used to be, and those old TVs are monsters.

Only solution is to hire someone to take them away.
 
bld999 said:
A quick thought about radioactive materials in smoke detectors ended like this: " we must live in their presence forever, but can't bury them in the garbage" .

That thought set my meter off. I came across this:

"The radiation dose to the occupants of a house from a domestic smoke detector is essentially zero, and in any case very much less than that from natural background radiation. The alpha particles are absorbed within the detector, while most of the gamma rays escape harmlessly. The small amount of radioactive material that is used in these detectors is not a health hazard and individual units can be disposed of in normal household waste"

Smoke Detectors and Americium - World Nuclear Association
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It seems reasonable to me that they go in the trash (after all, we have several of them in our homes, 24/7), but I'm pretty sure local laws say no can do.

It's pretty likely that after one more attempt, they will somehow find their way into the trash, like by accident of course. I do try to be responsible, and try to follow the letter of the law for these things, but I have my limits.

-ERD50
 
ERD50 said:
It seems reasonable to me that they go in the trash (after all, we have several of them in our homes, 24/7), but I'm pretty sure local laws say no can do.

It's pretty likely that after one more attempt, they will somehow find their way into the trash, like by accident of course. I do try to be responsible, and try to follow the letter of the law for these things, but I have my limits.

-ERD50
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Being responsible is the thing, in this case to me, this means teasing out the real level of risk at the regulatory [municipal disposal] level and behaving accordingly. I'm not a nuclear guy, maybe I'm missing something important, but this disposal prohibition sounds like something cooked up by Homer Simpson.
 
imoldernu said:
I remember a thread about this, a year or two ago, but can't find it.

Anyway... the problem is getting rid of items that the landfill no longer accept, where breaking the law is punishable with large fines. No answers from local government.

The few times our town tried an amnesty program, the lines of cars and trucks were so long they created a traffic jams.

There have to be hundreds of millions of TV's, computers and other electronics and appliances tucked away in sheds, garages and storage facilities.

How does your town handle this? Disposal fees, as with vehicle tires? Nearest listed electronics disposal facility is 100 mile away.

Any suggestions?
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For me a 100 mile trip, while annoying, wouldn't be that big a deal. I'd load all my crap up, head off, and get rid of it. The gas would probably be cheaper than a disposal fee (assuming there wasn't one of those too), and a road trip is always fun.

That's on a personal level, for getting rid of your own stuff. On a widespread local level, since the municipality isn't supplying a solution, I'd advise the citizenry to drop their stuff off in the city hall parking lot. I'd start with the mayor's parking space.
 
Here the County does have an electronics recycling drop off point but it is at the extreme south end of the county so for that stuff we drop off at the much closer Goodwill or Best Buy. Batteries I drop off at a nearby Battery Mart store, they even give me $1 for a UPS battery and $2 for a lawn mower battery core. I was surprised the UPS battery was worth anything at all, I sure didn't expect anything.

This is one of the "wealthier" counties in WV so I doubt that all places in WV have those resources available.
 
bld999 said:
The small amount of radioactive material that is used in these detectors is not a health hazard and individual units can be disposed of in normal household waste"
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I'm not worried about the danger posed by the small amount of americium in the detectors, (though keeping it out of groundwater would be considerate). I'm more concerned about reducing the pollution caused by refining new americium for use in smoke detectors. It is gotten from spent nuclear fuel at the rate of about 100 grams per ton (per Wikipedia). The isotope in smoke detectors has a half-life of over 400 years, so it's still plenty radioactive and still useful for that purpose when the 10 year lifespan of the detector has expired. I don't know anything about the process needed to refine it from the spent fuel, but I'm pretty sure it involves use of electricity and that the process produces other stuff that must be gotten rid of, so I'd prefer to just get this little bit back to a manufacturer so it can be re-used rather than using more energy and producing more waste to make more.
 
Tommorrow is Dumpster Day

Our neighborhood civic assoc arranges for the county to deliver 2 or 3 dumpsters to a nearby park. This occurs 2x per yr. Residents within a ~4 sq mile area can bring their bulky trash (no hazardous materials) for disposal. The 3rd dumpster is reserved for electronics and it fills up fast.

People bring all sorts of things including stuff that should really be going to goodwill and items that could easily go in the normal trash pickup. We have to ward off contractors trying to dispose of construction debris. This saves the county money theoretically because they would otherwise need to pick this stuff up individually (except most of it would just stay buried in people's basements and under their decks).

I usually volunteer to retrieve items from senior citizens upon request but this year I wanna be the guy with the sledge hammer busting things up so we can fit more into the dumpsters. There is a fair amount of scavenging that goes on and I am personally banned from bringing anymore "junk" back home (unless it is small enough to be undetected). We start around 8am and usually run out of space by 11.
 
samclem said:
I'm not worried about the danger posed by the small amount of americium in the detectors, (though keeping it out of groundwater would be considerate). I'm more concerned about reducing the pollution caused by refining new americium for use in smoke detectors. It is gotten from spent nuclear fuel at the rate of about 100 grams per ton (per Wikipedia). The isotope in smoke detectors has a half-life of over 400 years, so it's still plenty radioactive and still useful for that purpose when the 10 year lifespan of the detector has expired. I don't know anything about the process needed to refine it from the spent fuel, but I'm pretty sure it involves use of electricity and that the process produces other stuff that must be gotten rid of, so I'd prefer to just get this little bit back to a manufacturer so it can be re-used rather than using more energy and producing more waste to make more.
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That's a fair argument for not landfilling, I was assuming "not in the landfill" was a perception of potential harm to human health. Smoke detectors have been around a long time, I think it's surprising they are left out of convenient recycling programs if the material is recoverable and valuable.
Maybe detectors should cost a couple bucks more and include return mail packaging stored in the housing.
 
bld999 said:
That's a fair argument for not landfilling, I was assuming "not in the landfill" was a perception of potential harm to human health. Smoke detectors have been around a long time, I think it's surprising they are left out of convenient recycling programs if the material is recoverable and valuable.
Maybe detectors should cost a couple bucks more and include return mail packaging stored in the housing.
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Yes, it really doesn't add up to me that there is any significant cost to the material, or they would do as you say.

https://www3.epa.gov/radtown/docs/americium-smoke-detectors.pdf

There is no health threat from ionization smoke detectors as long as the detector is not tampered with and it is used as directed. The tiny amount of americium used is encased in ceramic and foil. There are no special disposal instructions for ionization smoke detectors. They may be thrown away with household trash, however your community may have a separate recycling program.
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But our county says they should not go in the trash. :(

These types SHOULD NOT be disposed of through the regular trash. Please check the manufacturer’s website for mail-back programs/disposal options or information included in the device packaging (phone number and/or address).
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It's not like mailing them is convenient, and it will cost me some money and time. For what? EPA says it is OK. :nonono:

-ERD50
 
Here in Austin, Goodwill accepts old electronics for disposal. There is a hazardous waste dropoff facility in town that's open several days a week. Beyond that, the city trash collection has certain days during the year where household "junk" is picked up. Finally, there are drug-dropoff days (like today!) where one can drop off unused and/or outdated medications of any kind with no questions asked.
 
I was dropping off stuff at the Salvation Army recently and they refused another person's offer of a CRT television. I've heard that it is getting hard to get rid of CRTs.
 
Dash man said:
Paint cans of latex paint can be thrown in the trash if you add some cat litter first to soak it up.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum
Click to expand...



Or just let it dry. Our municipality accepts leftover paint if it's dried and thus inert. I'd hoped Habitat for Humanity would be interested in partly-used cans of paint but they weren't.
 
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