Dec 18, 2016 3 min read

Washington County Planning Commission has announced its 2017 schedule for electronics collection at the fairgrounds at 2151 N. Main St. in Arden, Chartiers Township, and has initiated a hotline to verify recyclables will be collected as scheduled.

The dates are: Jan. 3, Feb. 7, March 14, April 4, May 2, June 13, July 11, Aug. 1, Sept. 5, Oct. 3, Nov. 7 and Dec. 12. All are Tuesdays, and all collection times are 2:30 to 5 p.m.

The planning commission also plans to cancel collections due to extreme weather, such as snowstorms and thunderstorms, or if the temperature is at or below 25 to 30 degrees, to ensure the safety of volunteers and workers.

In case of a weather-related cancellation, recycling will not be rescheduled that month. Cancellations will be posted on the Washington County Planning Commission website, www.co.washington.pa.us/planning, on the day of the event, or those interested can call the monthly electronics collection hotline, 724-250-4839, after 9:30 a.m. on the day of the collection. People who are planning to cart recyclables to the fairgrounds are asked to verify that the collection will actually take place on the scheduled day before they travel.

Items to be collected include computer monitors, both cathode-ray tubes and liquid crystal displays; computer towers and bases; mice, keyboards and speakers, notebook computers, printers, and televisions, including those with picture tubes and LCDs. Most items will be collected free of charge.

Televisions will be limited to one per carload per event. 4- and 8-foot fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lights will be accepted for a $1-per-bulb charge. Appliances containing freon will be accepted, but the freon removal fee will be $15. Fees must be paid in cash.

To date, Washington County’s electronics collection has served more than 4,100 residents and collected almost 340,000 pounds of castoffs.

More information is available by calling the Washington County Planning Commission at 724-228-6811.

In a related matter, the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful organization noted for the past five years, through its partnership with Washington County Court’s Furlough Into Service program, that 330,435 pounds of trash and 4,229 tires have been removed from illegal dump sites. A 2005 survey identified 126 illegal dump sites in the county, many of them fouling streams, hillsides and roads. FITS workers have spent 7,335 hours worth of community service, providing an in-kind value of $62,000 to the county.

To deter dumping, this partnership was funded through the state Department of Community and Economic Development through the county’s Local Share Account of gambling proceeds from The Meadows Racetrack & Casino to install surveillance cameras at random sites, leading to prosecution of offenders.

Information about the Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful camera loan program, available to municipalities and nonprofit organizations to fight illegal dumping, can be found at www.illegaldumpfreepa.org.