The Wrangell Cooperative Association will hold an electronic waste collection event Friday and Saturday, March 7-8, paired with an unofficial grand opening of its new transportation center on Zimovia Highway.
The center will be open for the first time to the public from noon to 4 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday as the drop-off site for e-waste.
The 5,000-square-foot maintenance and warehouse building is next door to WCA offices on the upland side of the highway, just south of TK’s Mini Mart.
Kim Wickman, the WCA Tl’átḵ | Earth Branch manager, said they can accept “almost anything with a brain and a cord,” meaning most electronic devices with chips, including cell phones, computers, laptops, tablets, printers, monitors, televisions and fax machines.
However, some items that might seem to fit into the brain-and-cord category cannot be accepted, like vacuum cleaners, medical equipment and household appliances. That includes microwaves.
People sometimes bring a box of electronics in a tangle of cords, and Wickman said she understands their good intention and does her best to honor that. Assistants at the collection site will help sort out items that can be accepted.
E-waste collections promote environmental health. Wickman explains that most electronic devices are made with precious metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, which could potentially leach into the soil and eventually into groundwater if taken to the dump.
The collected electronics are shipped to Total Reclaim in Washington, which recycles elements of each device, including the metals and plastics, before disposing of the leftover hazardous waste safely.
The goal of the WCA is to hold an e-waste collection event every two years. The tribe has been managing the collections since 2016.
While most of the items dropped off are pretty normal, every collection event has its surprises, Wickman said. “We got a huge, old-school television that probably could have gone to a museum a couple of years ago. We get interesting things from boats, like a bathroom device to help with flushing.”
If you are not sure whether your items meet the specifications for drop-off, you can either stop by or call ahead at 907-874-4304 to ask. A $5 donation is suggested, to help with the shipping costs, but it is not mandatory.
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