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By Mary Jo Hill TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
LEOMINSTER— Usually, shoppers look for bargains when buying computers and refrigerators, but now the city’s health director said residents and businesses are getting an “unbelievably good deal” on the price they will be paying to recycle these types of items.
East Coast Electronics Recycling offering to take electronic equipment and household appliances from city residents and businesses for recycling at its location at 59 Williams St. .
The company has been operating in Leominster for four years, and it wants to reach out to the community with this environmentally progressive service, according to a news release from Christopher J. Knuth, the city’s health director.
The program will begin March 2. The items can be taken in from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays only.
Items that can be taken for free are: keyboards, computer mice, radios, telephones, cell phones and wire.
Items taken for $1 (from residents) are: monitors, computers, printers, fax machines, copiers, televisions, scanners, DVD players and other electronic devices. Businesses will be charged $2 for each of these items.
Appliances and white goods will be accepted for a flat fee of $10. This includes refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, stoves, dishwashers, trash compactors, washing machines and dryers.
East Coast Electronics Recycling removes and recycles Freon from cooling devices as part the company’s process, according to the news release.
Proof of residency in Leominster must be provided by residents and businesses.
Items should not be left at the company unless the person dropping them off has personally made a transaction with a company representative, according to the release.
The facility is monitored by cameras 24 hours a day, and the fine for littering in Leominster is $300, the release stated.
The prices for recycling the items are much cheaper than prices such as the $15 for a computer monitor picked up by Waste Management; recycling televisions can cost as much as $30, Mr. Knuth said. White goods and appliances containing Freon can cost $30 to recycle, he said.
Waste Management picks up these items as a service to the city, not as a way to make money, Mr. Knuth said.
The city will no longer be having an electronics recycler come to the Household Hazardous Waste Days that are held four times a year, with the next one scheduled for March 25.
Residents can continue to call Waste Management to pick up of these items.
Another company contacted Mr. Knuth on Friday about the possibility of offering a cheaper pickup service for these items, he said.
East Coast Electronics Recycling is owned by Supreme Computer and Recycling, which is based in Lakewood, N.J.
East Coast Electronics Recycling has provided services to hundreds of cities and towns in Massachusetts, with the appliances and equipment wrapped and packaged for transfer to New Jersey, according to the press release.
In New Jersey, the items are dismantled for recycling, the press release states.
“The company has a comprehensive “No Landfill” policy that ensures that all equipment received will be returned to the market place,” according to the release.
Some of the items that still work are marketed to people in other countries, Mr. Knuth said.
For more information about the program, call the city’s health department at (978) 534-7550 or East Coast Electronics Recycling at (978) 537-9940.
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