Volunteers sort through collected electronics for CCCA’s e-waste campaign.
The Centretown Citizens Community Association is raising money for legal costs to appeal a city-approved condominium by organizing an electronic waste collection and getting funds from the city for e-waste.
The association is using the collection event to help residents return old electronics that are not collected in the normal curbside garbage and recycling pick-ups, says Robert Dekker, vice-president of the association.
Electronics acceptable for collection include audio players, computer keyboards, laptop computers, telephones, televisions, and radios among many others.
Old electronics have to be disposed of separately and it is the responsibility of residents to properly discard them. Dekker says the collection event on Oct. 6 was an opportunity for residents to get rid of the electronics without having to take it to a waste disposal on the outskirts of the city.
“People are always replacing electronics, and the last thing we want to see are these things ending up in landfills,” he says.
The city will provide money for the recycled electronics and will calculate it by the tonne.
Money raised from the e-waste event will go towards an appeal of a city council decision to approve a condominium development on 96 Nepean St.
“We’ve hired a planning consultant to do a preliminary report on our appeal, to give us opinions, and they don’t come cheap,” Dekker says.
In August, the association filed an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board seeking to overturn city council’s approval of a 27-storey condominium in Centretown.
CCCA official Judy Forrest says the organization expressed its concerns about the project to the city’s planning committee, but councillors approved the build anyway.
The current zoning bylaw allows only 12 storeys, and the development is far too big for the site, she adds.
“They’re building from lot line to lot line. You end up with a canyon effect, with buildings adjacent to another and no spaces in between,” says Forrest.
Dekker says the association worked with the city officials to choose an appropriate weekend for the e-waste event to ensure collections are done as frequently as possible around the city.
There is no confirmed date for future electronic waste collections with the association.
Dekker says the association held an event at Minto Park in the summer and had a “good response” from Centretown residents who returned old electronics.
Mark Lacroix, the owner of Recycle4Ottawa.com, says electronics that are sent to the landfill don’t get recycled. Electronics won’t be taken apart into their various components, such as glass, plastics, and metals, he says.