A free electronics recycling program that starts in Washington on Jan. 2 is getting so much public interest its organizers are worried they will be overwhelmed in an avalanche of old computers and television sets.

By all means, bring in your electronic equipment, organizers are saying. Just don’t do it the first week of the program. Or even the first month.

“Take your time. Go when it’s convenient,” advised Miles Kuntz, the Washington State Department of Ecology manager overseeing the program. “It’s a permanent program and not a special event.”

The program, called “E-cycle Washington,” is a result of a law passed by the state Legislature in 2006 but just now being implemented.

The Electronic Product Recycling Act set up a system through which households, schools, small businesses, small governments and charities can recycle certain electronic equipment for free.

At least 17 other states have electronic recycling laws, but Washington’s is regarded as particularly innovative because it puts the responsibility for recycling on electronics manufacturers instead of taxpayers.

“No taxpayer money is going into the program,” said John Friedrick, executive director of the Washington Materials Management and Financing Authority, the manufacturers’ organization responsible for setting up and operating the recycling network.

“The program is 100 percent funded by the manufacturers that sell electronics within the state of Washington,” Friedrick said.

Manufacturers are assessed fees based on their share of the market in the state, calculated using a formula based on weight.

Those fees are used to pay collectors, transporters who haul the equipment, and processors who break the items down into component parts and handle recycling and disposal.

Based on experience in other states, organizers expect Washington’s 6.7 million people to recycle about 4 pounds of electronics per person next year.

That adds up to more than 13,000 tons of electronic equipment that otherwise would end up in landfills.

Some portion will still end up in landfills, Kuntz said, but through e-cycling, toxic material such as lead, cadmium and mercury will be more safely disposed of, and at least some of the metals, glass and plastics in the products will be recycled.

When electronic equipment is disposed of in landfills, toxins can leak into the groundwater. If burned, they contaminate the air.

According to Friedrick, more than 200 collection sites have been organized and will be available in the new year.

“Technically, they’ll be ready on Jan. 1,” he said. “but since that’s a holiday, it will effectively be Jan. 2.”

Fifty percent to 60 percent of the sites will be at nonprofit agencies with retail stores, such as Goodwill, The Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul.

“That’s the primary collection arm,” Friedrick said. “It makes it convenient for people to drop them off with other items.”

Additionally, he said, some cities and towns with transfer stations have been designated as collection points as well as some computer shops and other miscellaneous places.

Tacoma Goodwill will be one of the collectors and has teamed up with the City of Tacoma to be the collector at the Tacoma Landfill.

Organizers say they expect some confusion at first, because not all electronic products will be accepted. Some sites may charge a fee for products not covered by the program – including mice, printers, cell phones, scanners, and other electrical devices and appliances.

Products accepted free of charge will include televisions, computers, laptops and monitors.

At this point, only two electronics processors, which grind up and separate the equipment, are in operation in the state: Total Reclaim in Seattle and IMS Electronics Recycling in Vancouver.

While the law is limited now, Kuntz said, environmentalists already are pushing to expand it to include electronic gaming systems, DVD players, digital picture frames and stereo equipment.

“All of these things have valuable resources in them,” Kuntz said. “Why throw them in the landfill?”

Rob Carson: 253-597-8693

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