Dump old TVs at fair

Lots of people wonder what to do when that computer or TV gets on its last legs. You can’t throw it out — that’s illegal under California law. That’s why the city and disposal company SoCal Computer Recyclers are holding a free disposal fair Friday and Saturday for anyone who wants to dump their old electronics.

Unlike many such events, this one even lets businesses get rid of leftover gear as well. And officials said it takes an inclusive approach intended to let people get rid of anything they’re wondering about.

State law makes pretty much any electronic device off limits to toss in the trash, said Debra Jubinsky, who handles waste and recycling for the city’s public works department. The devices all contain metals and other substances that shouldn’t be in landfills, she said

“That’s pretty much anything with a circuit board and a cord,” Jubinsky said. “In CRT [non-flatscreen] televisions and monitors there’s lead. There’s trace metals like cadmium, copper or mercury in a variety of quantities depending on the device. There’s obscure heavy metals. You can even see PCBs in old plastics.”

Normally, if a resident tries to throw out something like a TV, Rainbow Disposal workers won’t empty the trash bin, she said.

There aren’t too many hard-and-fast rules about what to bring, company President Randy Lewis said.

“If somebody’s going to make the effort to drop it off, the least we can do is pick it up,” he said. “You’d be amazed what people bring. Not that we encourage it, but we get coffee machines, fans, even rice cookers.”

What happens to equipment brought in? For 80% of it, it’s reduced to its constituent metals and they are recycled. The rest is donated to charities or resold.

“We try to generate as little landfill material as possible,” he said. “The only thing we have a big problem with is plastics. There’s no standardization, so one computer can have four different kinds of plastic.”

Residents shouldn’t worry about their personal data, Lewis said. His company writes ones and zeros seven times over every data bit of a hard drive that isn’t scrapped, he said. And if it is scrapped, workers fully demagnetize the drives and physically punch through the discs.

Events like these help because people want to do the right thing, Jubinsky said.

“I think most people don’t know what to do, so they just hold onto it,” she said. “We’re trying to avoid some of that stockpiling, so we make it very public and make sure they know they have options.”

The disposal round-up takes place 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Complex in Central Park, 18100 Goldenwest St.