I have been going through the red tape for awhile for Tech Fixers LLC to be officially permitted and listed on the state and county lists as an approved “collector” and “recycler” of electronic waste (aka. e-waste). I already need to recycle e-waste such as broken parts and batteries responsibly, why not help the community as well?
Why not be listed as a drop off point so other people can get rid of their old, broken or unwanted electronics responsibly? It is a free service however it also has the other added benefits:
- raising awareness for the shops paid products services
- providing an occasional free source of parts for when new parts are unavailable
- helping prevent damage to our local environment
Seems like it would be simple right? I have been working on this for months and am still maybe only a third of the way through the process.
Some of the hoops I have had to jump though
- getting in contact with the right person at minnesota pollution control
- Signing up in one system and getting approved. shows “in progress” since March.
- Signing up in another system
- Waiting for all this
- Getting in touch with the right person in Scott County.
- Having Scott county inspect the premises.
- Filling out an application with Scott county.
- Paying significant annual permit fees.
- Paying for business insurance
- Paying business license fees
- Recording and logging waste received, disposed, etc
- Paying to dispose of the waste at a higher rate than residents would pay themselves
That is right. I would need to pay to recycle other peoples trash. It is no wonder that it is hard to find a place to take your old electronics.
Do you think that someone without a car is going to lug a 40lb desktop computer 20 miles or pay $70 for their garbage hauler to recycle it?
I wonder sometimes how many are thrown into someones dumpster or in the lake instead…..
