Metals and Electronics Drive
The wonders of modern appliances and fixtures have brought with them some problems which deal with disposal of discarded items.
That new refrigerator or freezer or Air Conditioner is a sight to behold and so much more efficient than the old one. But what about the
Freon that was used to cool the old one? 
And what do we do with the metal?
Freon spilled on the ground is considered a hazardous waste by the Environmental Protection Agency. It must be removed and disposed of so
that the groundwater will not be contaminated. That's where we come in.
The first Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful Metals and Electronics Drive was held in September of 1998. Response was tremendous with over 225 people from Winnebago, Boone, Stephenson and Rock Counties participating. Over 40,000 pounds of old appliances, electronics and metal items were collected. Now we schedule two collection dates annually to keep these no longer used items from winding up in the landfill.
The most recent Metals Drive, held in May 2008, was truly overwhelming. Over 1,100 people from the Stateline area dropped off water heaters, washers, dryers, grills, phones, lawnmowers, stoves and more. The 56 volunteers unloaded over 58 tons of materials to trucks that could not keep up with the in-flow.
For the first time ever, we were able to take used Televisions at the Electronics Drive. We collected 273 TV's which were then processed to remove and recycle the useable parts.
Recently we have expanded our coverage to include no longer used electronics items such as video recorders, computer equipment including the CPU, monitor, keyboard and mouse. There is approximately four pounds of lead in each computer monitor which must be safely removed and processed to keep it from contaminating our safe drinking water supply. In addition, 100% of the components of each computer are recycled. We recycled 384 computer monitors in May, 2007.
In two drives during 2007, we recycled 92 refrigerators and freezers and 295 computer monitors, collecting a total of over 194,750 pounds of recyclable metals and electronics.
This is a volunteer intensive project. If you would like to participate in keeping Northern Illinois beautiful and safe, call (815) 637-1343 for information on how you can help.