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Local Electronic Recycling Suspended
Houston cuts CompuCycle off, local service on hold
Much to the frustration of the crew here at Keep Kingwood Green, the City has again cancelled or they say 'postponed' the monthly pick up here in Kingwood. It's best just to consider it suspended for the time being.
Apparently, the cause is a contract dispute, so there is a possibility it will work out in the end. The contract is for a minuscule amount of money compared to Houston's regular Solid Waster Department budget.
However, with an average pick up of close to 19,000 pounds a month, residents now have almost 20 tons of this hazardous waste in their garages, attics and closets which should be on its way to recycling. Each month.
The City has told us that residents should use other avenues to rid themselves of these items.
Yes, there are other outlets but none of them are as convenient as the service they have relied on for the past 3 ½ years.
They tell us to take it to Goodwill, Purple Heart, Best Buy, the CompuCycle warehouse, or the City’s two ESC’s or their Westpark Consumer Recycling Center.
Keep Kingwood Green has inspected the Compucycle operations and they are a highly rated R-2 E-waste recycler.
We do not know what happens to things taken to Best Buy, Goodwill or Purple Heart. We do know that taking items to the City’s three sites or the Compucycle warehouse is a long drive for a Kingwood resident.
Please do your best to use one of the other places listed above for the time being, or better yet, hang on to your electronic recycling for a month or so. We'll have better information on where to take it soon.
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Why are Services being Cut in Kingwood?
In the past year, the yearly document shredding service offered by the Mayor’s Department of Neighborhoods has been discontinued.
An annual event sponsored by the DEA and the Houston Police Department to collect expired drugs has been discontinued.
Now, they want us to find another way to dispose of our electronics.
When Kingwood became part of Houston, the City agreed to leave intact the trash collection systems contracted by each individual HOA in Kingwood.
They agreed to pay each HOA a $6 a month fee per household as compensation so the Solid Waste Department would not be obligated to spend the money to start collecting Kingwood trash.
Some 15 years later, the six dollar payment has not increased even though the City now offers a more superior service than most of us receive from our private haulers.
The City picks up trash once a week in the big City furnished 96 gallon rolling cart. They pick up recyclables every two weeks in a different City furnished 96 gallon rolling cart. They pick up leaves and green waste weekly and take it to be composted versus sent to the landfill.
Most of us here in Kingwood pay between $15 and $25 a month for the same service.
In the rest of the City and a few Kingwood neighborhoods there is no charge. (The Solid Waste Department is funded from the general tax revenue of the City)
Bottom line: We pay the same taxes as the rest of the City but still have to pay for our own trash service and recycling, too, if your HOA has approved that. As our services disappear we continue to pay the same taxes and for most of our own trash services.
To the City’s credit, they are still giving us good weekend recycling service for normal recyclables at the Metro lot. Since the price of commodities is down, will that be the next cut?
We hope we will be able to give you better news about electronics in our September newsletter. In the meantime we will be updating our website with trusted places that you can take your electronics.
Be aware unless the City restores the monthly collections your tasks will be much harder to recycle electronics responsibly.
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How Can You Give Feedback or Ask Questions?
Visit our web site!
Email: info@keepkingwoodgreen.org
We also maintain a Facebook page. Like us or Follow us!
Call us 713-206-0558 and leave a message. One of our volunteers will get back to you as fast as possible.
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