North Kentucky News

The 2024 E-Waste and Paper Shredding event will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Holmes High School, accessible via its Madison Avenue entrance. This annual event, now in its ninth year, is organized by the City of Covington in collaboration with the Center for Great Neighborhoods and its Keep Covington Beautiful program.

Several categories of recyclable items can be dropped off:

- Electronic waste

- Confidential documents to be shredded

- Certain types of Styrofoam-like materials

- Miscellaneous items including batteries and light bulbs

The event is free for Covington residents, small businesses, schools, churches, and non-profits. Donations will be accepted to help cover event costs, and no registration is required.

Covington Solid Waste and Recycling Manager Sheila Fields emphasized the importance of proper recycling and disposal of electronic waste for long-term environmental sustainability. "We must minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency by keeping components, products, and materials in use for as long as possible," Fields said. "Recovering valuable materials and reintegrating them into a production cycle not only creates jobs but also contributes to resource conservation."

Certified recycling company Cohen Recycling will handle the e-waste collection. Accepted electronic items include computers and related equipment, telephone equipment, printers, stereo equipment, TVs, video game systems, microwaves, CRT monitors among others.

Shred-it® will collect paper documents for shredding. Fields noted that shredding documents containing confidential information helps prevent identity theft. Acceptable paper items include bank statements, tax records, medical records among others.

Boone County Solid Waste will process polystyrene foam which will then be further processed by Eco Development into new products. The foam must be clean without any tape or food residue.

Accepted miscellaneous items include various types of batteries (alkaline batteries like D or AA; lithium-ion batteries; rechargeable batteries; button cell batteries) and light bulbs (incandescent bulbs; LED bulbs; fluorescent bulbs).

Items not accepted include thermostats with mercury switches, equipment containing biological waste or chemicals, radioactive material among others.

# # #