The weather grew chilly and the skies threatened rain as a two-day, free electronics recycling event drew to a close Saturday afternoon at the Santa Maria Fairpark, but not before four semitrailers had been filled with gear.
The fairpark partnered with Electronic Recyclers of Fresno, for the occasion, which took place Friday afternoon and Saturday.
People were able to dispose of electronics such as televisions, computers, printers and copiers free of charge.
“It went really well,” said Joe Brengle, the Santa Maria Fairpark’s deputy manager.
The first such electronics recycling event in Santa Maria was held two years ago and was its most successful showing, he added.
The recycling drives will be held twice a year, Brengle said, with the next set for Aug. 28-29.
“This is one of the better ones,” he remarked of the weekend function.
Organizers had been seeing a lot of computer monitors and TVs coming in, but also cell phones, stereos and videocassette recorders, according to Brengle. All have parts that cannot be safely disposed of in landfills.
Donors are grateful, he said, because they didn’t know what to do with their old electronics.
Santa Maria resident Fernando Castillo, who brought a 35-inch TV for recycling after it died a month ago, said that bringing the TV to the fairpark was “a lot easier” than trying to dispose of it himself.
“Because I was wondering what I was going to do with this thing,” he added.
Brengle said that electronics recycling drives are held statewide.
The four trucks full of items from the Santa Maria affair were headed to Fresno, he said, and the different components will be melted down and made into new products.
The city of Santa Maria also offers its residential customers an electronic waste drop site seven days a week at the landfill, 2065 E. Main St. The landfill is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Lompoc’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility is at 1585 North V St. with drop-offs by appointment only, the city’s Web site says. For more information, call 875-8024. Items also can be dropped off at the Lompoc Landfill, at the end of Avalon Road, according to the Web site.
* Although we have archived this news article on our website, the original article may no longer exist.