The City of Penticton is providing tips about how to dispose of old or broken electronics, with the goal of keeping these items out of the landfill.
“It’s important to remember that electronics cannot be added into your residential recycling carts,” says Madison Poultney, Sustainability Coordinator. “When conducting our audits during the summer, we noticed some residents were placing cellphones, charger cords, computer monitors and keyboards into their recycling. These contaminate the recycling and can also pose a safety risk.”
Throwing electronics into your garbage or recycling at home can create a serious fire hazard at the landfill, recycling facility and collection truck. This is because the lithium-ion batteries inside of these devices can either spark or explode when crushed.
The best way to help prevent the serious threat of fires caused by sparks or explosions is to take electronics to one of the following locations, where they can be recycled at no cost.
PACE Electronics Penticton and Area Cooperative Enterprises (PACE) accepts donations of used electronics, many of which they refurbish and repurpose to sell on-site. You’ll find monitors, computers, laptops or other tech equipment for affordable prices. If you have a computer and are concerned about confidential information, they also provide a service to destroy the computer drive upon request. For a full list of items you can recycle or purchase at PACE, visit pacepenticton.com or phone 250-276-4163. Their e-waste centre is at 105 Martin St. (off Estabrook Ave.).
J&C Bottle Depot This bottle depot, at 200 Rosetown Ave., accepts used electronics including monitors, telephones, desktops, laptops and other computer accessories. For more information, visit return-it.ca/electronics or phone 250-492-5144. Staples Staples has partnered with eCycle Solutions to accept end-of-life electronics including computers, computer parts, printer ink cartridges, cellphones, small appliances and more. Simply drop your items off at their Penticton location, 102 Warren Ave. E. For more details, visit staples.ca or phone 250-770-2990.
London Drugs Note that London Drugs only accepts consumer electronics that were purchased in their stores. This includes computers, laptops, cellphones, tablets, printers, chargers and headphones, and they’re located at Cherry Lane Shopping Centre. For more information, visit londondrugs.com/recycling or phone 250-492-4728.
For more information about recycling, or for more tips about what goes where, visit penticton.ca/recycling.