Celebrating Earth Day with a recycling event in G.C.

The City of Glen Cove Department of Public Works’ yard turned into a 90’s electronics graveyard last weekend during the city’s annual e-waste collection and paper shredding event. Enough boxy televisions, fax machines and computer keyboards, monitors, modems and cables were collected to fill up a large truck before being sent to an electronic recycling center.

To the DPW’s pleasant surprise, cars were lined up at 8:30 a.m. — 30 minutes before the start time — with residents ready to safely and responsibly dispose of their old electronics.

“We’ve been doing it for so long that it’s kind of like clockwork,” said Douglas Poncet, DPW sanitation and recycling supervisor, of the e-waste program. “This is our first year doing the shredding and it’s been a big success so far.”

In fact, the paper shredding was such a success that Mayor Reggie Spinello extended the amount of time the shredder was available to residents that day. DPW motor vehicle operator Gerald Apricico and heavy equipment operator Tony Basile worked quickly to grab boxes and boxes of files from cars, dispose of them in a large garbage pail, and hand the pail over to the American Security Shredding truck where residents could watch their papers get shredded via a camera and monitor on the truck.

AHRC eWorks employees were also hard at work, carrying heavy televisions and equipment out of the many cars, and even out of a bus. Kevin Wright and David Hubbard, two trustees with the Calvary A.M.E. Church, loaded up a small bus with old televisions and computers they had in storage and some they collected from residents earlier that day. “I didn’t realize we put that many on there!” said Wright. “I’m going to have to put this on the calendar for next year.”

The event, which fittingly took place on Earth day, amassed electronics and paper from over 500 city residents. “We’re very, very pleased with the turnout,” said Spinello. “It shows that people care about the environment.”

The city collected over 10 tons in electronics to be recycled. At press time the amount of paper shredded was not available.