North Central College hosts recycling event for community on campus

DuPage County residents are invited to take part in a Recycling Extravaganza from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 5, at North Central College.

The event will take place in the parking lots behind North Central’s Residence Hall/Recreation Center, 440 S. Brainard St., and Merner Field House, 450 S. Brainard St. The entrance to the lots is located where Porter Avenue intersects with Loomis Street. Volunteers will direct traffic and assist customers dropping off donations.

The Recycling Extravaganza is open to DuPage County residents and does not include businesses or nonprofit organizations. Everything collected will be responsibly recycled or put to good use.

A variety of electronics are accepted, including large and small electronic devices, household batteries, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, cameras, computers, laptops, copiers, cords, discs, electric typewriters, fax/adding machines, hard drives, keyboards, mice, monitors, PDAs, printers, scanners, small kitchen appliances, radios, speakers, stereos, telephones, zip drives, hair dryers and more.

Residents are also encouraged to recycle their scrap metal, such as metal fencing, metal lawn chairs, keys, metal playground sets and metal cabinets. Volunteers will accept fire extinguishers, holiday lights, ink cartridges, clothing buttons, rulers, American flags, books, yarn, and school, office or art supplies.

Bicycles, functional or not, may be dropped off, along with such accessories as helmets, trailers and baskets. Nonmotorized wheelchairs may also be recycled at the event.

Certain items will not be accepted by volunteers, including refrigerators and large household appliances, air conditioners, smoke alarms, light bulbs (fluorescent or incandescent), thermostats, paint of any kind and household hazardous waste such as cleaning agents and chemicals.

The Recycling Extravaganza accepts items that are difficult to recycle otherwise, as Illinois state law bans from landfills the disposal of TVs, desktop and laptop computers, monitors, printers, computer peripherals, VCRs/DVD players, gaming systems, MP3 players and other electronic items. The event is a convenient way for residents to responsibly dispose their electronic waste.

Organizations participating in North Central College’s Recycling Extravaganza include SCARCE of Glen Ellyn, ACME Refining of Chicago, Working Bikes of Chicago and Cintas of Aurora.

Contact Brittany Graham, North Central College’s sustainability coordinator, at bdgraham@noctrl.edu or 630-637-5623 for more information.