• Editor’s Note: This is the eighth in a series counting down the top 10 Kane County Connects stories of 2016.

One of the most important aspects of any recycling program is communication and outreach. Kane County Connects is extremely proud to be able to contribute to the county’s efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.

A great example of that was the fast-changing challenge of electronics recycling in 2016.

The story is a lot more complex than this, but in broad strokes, big-tubed TVs and cathode ray computer monitors of the past are being replaced by the flat, plasma screens of the future — at an astonishing pace. Meanwhile, state and federal government regulations that required manufacturers to subsidize electronics recycling had caps and time limits set too low to accommodate the volume.

The result was that local electronics drop-off centers were being deluged, some municipalities stopped accepting electronics, and the county’s monthly recycling event was hit with a run on the bank like that scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Kane County Recycling Coordinator Jennifer Jarland and the folks in Kane County’s Environmental & Water Division responded (in my opinion, brilliantly) by reinventing the electronics recycling program from the ground up.

When the county resumed electronics recycling at three drop-off locations, the reaction was thunderous approval. The KCC article announcing the new program has had 9,128 page views, the third highest of any article we posted in 2016.

Read More

• Holiday Hours for Kane County Electronics Recycling Drop-offs
• West Dundee Opens Electronics Recycling Site — All 3 Kane Drop-Offs Up and Running
• South Elgin Electronics Recycling Open; Monthly Recycling Event Is Saturday!
• Kane County Electronics Recycling Redux Off to a Great Start
• Kane County Resumes Electronics Recycling at 3 New Locations
• 100 Tons of Stuff, 1,600 Residents Recycled at Saturday’s Event
• Expect Long Lines April 9 When Kane County Re-Starts Monthly Recycling Collection
• Where to Recycle Your Big Old TVs Today
• Illlinois’ Electronics Recycling Struggles Affect Kane County
• Changes Coming in Kane County Electronics Recycling Program
• Why Big TVs, Illinois Law Are Killing Electronics Recycling Programs
• Glut of TVS, Old Laws Force Elgin Habitat ReStore to Stop Accepting Electronics
• Kane County Suspends Free Electronics Recycling After ‘Overwhelming’ May Event
• So, What’s Next for Kane County Electronics Recycling
• Kane County Presents Plan to Reinstate Electronics Recycling Program

About Kane County Recycles

The Kane County Recycles office manages recycling programs for electronics, books, hazardous materials, and other hard-to-recycle materials, and promotes best practices for household recycling, commercial business recycling, and composting. This office oversees recycling-related information and community outreach initiatives, oversees the annual licensing of Waste and Recycling Haulers, provides backyard compost bins, and implements the Kane County Solid Waste Plan. The office oversees the Recycling and Hauler Licensing Ordinance which requires commercial businesses and multi-family residences to recycle, and provides the provisions for hauler licensing and reporting.

For all you ever needed to know about recycling in Kane County see the Kane County Recycles webpage and also sign up here to receive an electronic copy of the new Green Guide each spring.

2016 Top Stories Countdown

• No. 10: Middle School Student Threatens Shooting
• No. 9: Free Wood Chips!
• No. 8: Kane County Mourns Loss of Steve Chidester
• No. 7: The Curious Incident of the Great Galesburg Zephyr
• No. 6: Kane County’s First Modern Roundabout
• No. 5: Car Crashes Into Home on Farnsworth
• No. 4: Emergency Rail Repairs Close Randall Road

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