Waste Management Recycle America collected about 1,000 pounds of electronics for recycling Saturday.

Individuals and businesses brought outdated and broken computer towers, monitors, TVs, laptops, printers, copiers, VCRs, DVD players, cell phones and CPUs in general to the collection site at Cargill Meat Solutions.

Those items will be carefully taken part screw by screw, and components such as computer chips, circuit boards, metals, plastics and batteries will be sorted and recycled for further use, said Kerry Moury, plant manager for Waste Management.

However, the hard drives from computers will be degaussed and torn up to prevent anyone from accessing private or privileged information, she said.

Cargill Meat Solutions and Waste Management had discussed something to do for Earth Day for a few months, said Mac Leon, district operations manager for Waste Management.

At first, they thought of having a paper and cardboard drive, but decided the Morgan County community could use a way to recycle electronics, he said.

Waste Management does this kind of community event all the time in various parts of the state, even though it is based in Denver, Moury said.

The first $500 worth of recycling was covered by Cargill, and the rest of the items were accepted for a nominal charge.

In addition, the eight Waste Management workers handed out gifts such as water bottles, cups and flying discs made out of recycled materials. They also offered people fluorescent light bulb and battery recycling kits, with which people can send recyclable materials through the mail, Moury said.

Electronic devices, especially digital devices, often contain toxic chemicals which can pollute groundwater, and are known to sometimes cause cancer or damage to nervous and reproductive systems.

— Contact Dan Barker at business@fmtimes.com.