Recycle your electronics -- in mayodan

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Sony has teamed up with Waste Management to create dropoff places throughout the US for all electronic devices (dropping off Sony-branded item will be free, while other consumer electronics may incur a fee for some types of materials.) The program starts September 15th.

That's the good news. The bad news is that there's only one recycling facility planned for North Carolina, and that's in Mayodan (which is a bit of a drive from here.) Mayodan is 30 miles north of Greensboro (actually the town has a lovely Web site at lhttp://www.townofmayodan.com/id17.htm.)

This'll be great for the people in the western part of the state, less useful for those of us here in the Triangle area. Good news however is that the number of dropoff locations for the Sony Take Back Recycling Program is expected to double to at least 150 sites within a year. The goal is having enough dropoff locations so that there's a recycling center within 20 miles of 95 percent of the united states population. You can see the Sony talking about the program on its own blog at lhttp://news.sel.sony.com/electronicsblog/?p=12 .

That's the good news and bad news. The better news is that I'm going to take this opportunity to remind you of the recycling opportunities that are already around here. The City of Raleigh has la page devoted to PC/electronics recycling options. You can get items picked up (by special arrangement only), take them directly to the recycling center, or donate them.

For Durham, there's a page of details about electronics recycling and donation. (I didn't know that IBM would recycle an entire system for $29.99!) Orange County has details on recycling computer items, electronics, and regular batteries.

Your county do something different? Give us a pointer in the comments.