County tackles illegal electronics dumping

To help tackle illegal dumping, the county named Burrtec Waste Industries the electronics waste collector for the unincorporated areas around Barstow.

A decision by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will allow 18 waste collectors to collect old electronics on behalf of the county. According to Rex Richardson, spokesman for the division of solid waste management, the decision stems from people dropping off electronics and other items after hours at a transfer site near Lake Arrowhead. By naming waste haulers the county’s electronic waste collectors, companies can be reimbursed by the state for items they take to be recycled, he said.

“(Collectors) can say it’s from a county unincorporated area and they can still get paid to handle that material,” he said. “It also helps when we do illegal dump cleanups and there’s waste in an unincorporated area.”

According to Williams, if one of their waste handlers comes across illegally dumped electronics, they clean it up. Usually, he said, code enforcement notifies the company of illegally dumped electronics and a representative will come and get it. Occasionally people will put old television sets in their trash cans, Williams said. In that case, the land fill separates the items and Burrtec comes and picks them up.

Residents drop off their electronics for free. A Paramount-based company called E-recycling takes the material to the Los Angeles area to be recycled. The company doesn’t charge Burrtec to ship the items, but its shipping fees are taken out of the reimbursed funds, Williams said.

“We get what’s left over,” he said. “(The county’s decision) may have a huge impact on our company. We don’t get a lot. It would be nice if they did that for tires and mattresses, but they don’t.”

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(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com