Computers Included In Heavy Trash Day

(posted Sept 13)

Speedway residents will be able to disposed those obsolete computers with Goldsmith Group e-recyclers instead of tossing these toxic machines into the landfill.

Speedway Solid Waste Commissioner Christie Manion was able to add electronic recycling for the October 6 heavy trash collection at the Street Department.

Manion said toxic items will not be collected at this site, but the City of Indianapolis will collect toxic products at the Trader's Point collection facility at 7550 N. Lafayette Road on the same day.

In conjunction, Town Councilor Lu Hillmer has arranged for Shred-It to be on site for shredding papers to prevent identification theft from thieves rummage through trash looking for identity materials. The $5 per box fee will go to Crime Stoppers.

To increase collections, Manion has partnered with the "Motegi Students" to collect heavy trash from residents who cannot lift heavy items. The junior high students will collect heavy trash from residents and drop it off at the street department for a fee. This will help fund the student foreign exchange trip to go to Motegi, Japan this fall.

The September 12 solid waste meeting may be taking a pivotal turn. Manion informed the group that she has been researching grant programs to help increase the town's recycling efficiencies. She is working with the schools to develop a paper recycling program that could add dollars to the Speedway Parent Teacher Association and the school convocation fund. She said neither the schools or the town hall recycles paper.

Manion's project is a stepping stone to her bigger plan to capture all of toner cartridges used in town for recycling. From her research, she said recycling firms pay from 50 cents to $5.00 per cartridge. This could amount a large sum of money for the town. She wanted to reduce the amount of money the town pays for recycling and trash hauling. She thinks the town should make the money from selling aluminum and paper instead of a vendor.

Commission President Ed Stresino remained somewhat skeptical of her plan, saying that residents will still have to pay for the collection to remove the other recyclables. He was doubtful that a hauler would want to accept the just plastics because the money is with the aluminum.

Commissioner Pam Flaherty noted that she is actually paying a premium for her recycling of just her plastics because she takes the paper to the library's drop site and lets her neighbor have the aluminum cans to sell.

Manion said that this is not going to happen over night, that it is more of an awareness now that the solid waste commission needs to be more aggressive with reducing the solid waste costs and increase recycling efficiencies with the town making the money, not the hauler.