(See all you can bring: CHaRM Recycle Day Guide)
• What items have a fee and why?
TV’s and computer monitors ($20 each for most sizes)
Mattresses ($15/set of mattress and boxspring or per mattress)
Secure paper shredding ($0.50/pound)
Fluorescent light bulbs – 1st two free – $0.50/bulb additional
Please realize that recycling has a cost. CHaRM’s fees listed above generally align with or are less than other responsible vendors who recycle these materials.
TV’s and computer monitors must be painstakingly dismantled to safely recover the recyclable metals and dispose of hazardous material contents. Please be aware that rear-projection and older cathode-ray-tube TV’s cannot feasibly be recycled.
Mattresses are collected by the Atlanta Furniture Bank, who restores and makes them available to the homeless. The Atlanta Furniture Bank is a non-profit, employing many veterans, so consider your fee as a donation to a good cause.
Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury. These bulbs are carefully transported back to CHaRM’s facility to be safely crushed in a specially designed device which safely contains the mercury-laden material, which is properly disposed as hazardous waste.
• Do I have to sort the recyclables I take to the event?
Yes. CHaRM has separate bins for #1, #2 and #5 plastics. ‘Stretchy’ plastics, like plastic bags are separately collected as well. And of course the glass is separated by color. If you have it sorted before you arrive, the drop off process will be seamless and fast. No worries if it is not perfectly sorted, Keep Chamblee Beautiful volunteers are present to help move the items to the correct spot!
• Is there value in electronics?
It costs money to recycle most of the electronics. A small portion has value that sometimes pays for the recycling of the rest. However when electronics get cheaper over time, it becomes less valuable and consumers pay more for recycling electronics like TVs and Monitors.
Currently most electronics are made with plastic. The plastics are very hard to recycle because they consist of specific compounds. Printers for example have a heat resistant chemical in its plastic housing.
• Can I recycle bubble wrap envelopes?
Yes, only if they are fully plastic (it is ‘stretchy’ plastic, so it goes with the plastic grocery bags). The bubble wrap envelopes covered with paper on the outside can not be recycled.
• Are electronics cables recyclable?
Yes! Please bring all the cables you have. A large volume of cables is contributing to a valuable quantity of re-usable material.