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Environmental Group Offers Easy Way To Get Rid Of Hard-To-Recycle Items

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It's Spring cleaning time, and many of us have items to get rid of but can't because of local municipal rules.

"We call hard-to-recycle items things that you generally have a sense that should be recyclable but yet they are not accepted in your curbside household program," says Justin Stockdale, director of the local chapter of the Pennsylvania Resources Council.

So what are those items?

"Car tires, polystyrene foam is a big one that we see at these events, all the electronic devices from phones to computers to television sets, household batteries, CFL light bulbs, again it's a really long list of things that we couch or we park in this hard-to-recycle program."

But if your municipality won't take these, the Pennsylvania Resources Council is holding five events around the region to take your hard-to-recycles from May 13 to October 7:

Saturday, May 13th
Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills

Saturday, June 24th
Quaker Valley High School

Saturday, July 29th
LaRoche College

Saturday, August 12th
Century III Mall

Saturday, October 7th
Settlers Cabin Park

Many items will be taken for free -- like computers, laptops, phones, traditional electronics.

And you don't have to clean off your data.

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"We can 100 percent assure -- we've been doing this now for 15 years -- not one scrap of data has ever escaped from our collection events," says Stockdale.

But televisions and old computer monitors not easily recycled will cost you a drop-off fee.

"We have to pay money to get it recycled, so the television sets will range from $20 to $40 per unit depending on size of television set or old computer monitor."

If you're unhappy about having to pay any fees at all for recycling common household items, call your state lawmakers right now.

Ask them to close the loophole that allows manufacturers to escape responsibility for recycling.

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