As part of its mission to become a regional recycling hub, the Montezuma County landfill is now accepting electronic wastes and certain plastics during regular hours.
Fees to drop off electronics range from $5 to $20, said manager Shak Powers.
“Residents need a place to get rid of it, and now we have more room to store it,” he said.
Since 2013, Colorado banned electronic wastes from landfills to avoid heavy metals and toxic substances, such as mercury and lead. Since then, residents have stored old electronics, dumped them during infrequent collections, or illegally dumped them.
“This offers the public a convenient option,” Powers said. “Since the ban, we’ve seen more illegal dumping of TVs in ditches and on BLM land.”
The disposal fees are $20 for televisions, $5 for computers, $15 for computer monitors, and $5 for boxes of miscellaneous items such as stereos, speakers, printers, faxes and cords.
The electronics then go to Natural Evolutions in Albuquerque to be broken down and recycled.
“The fees have come down because we used to have to ship it to Oklahoma,” Powers said. “The fees pay the recycling and shipping costs.”
The landfill now accepts co-mingled No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, and will pay 5 cents per pound.
No. 1 plastics include containers for water, soda, mouthwash and salad dressing.
No. 2 plastics include trash and grocery bags, and bottles for milk, juice, detergents, shampoo, and motor oil.
Powers says most yogurt containers aren’t in either category.