The best part of the triumphant e-waste collection: it didn't cost the village a dime. Brown and his department contracted with Bolingbrook, Ill.-based E-Scrap Technologies to run the event—at no charge to the city. The electronics salvage company provided the containers, labor, and hauling; all Lake Zurich had to do was provide space, which ended up being a corner of the public works yard.
“We had been working with another company in the past, but there was a cost involved, and we had to supply the labor; the costs were getting too high,” said Brown. “When E-Scrap approached us, we thought this would be a great way to give back to the residents.
The citizens themselves only paid fees when dropping off large items, such as an office copier or severely outdated or broken equipment—”stuff that's not really able to be salvaged for anything,” said Brown. Even in those cases, the fees were minimal, falling in the $7 to $10 range.
Brown added that Lake Zurich is considering adding another collection event in the fall. — Jenni Spinner