The partnership between Keep Polk Beautiful and Fenley TV to ensure that a variety of electronics and appliances don’t end up in landfills, and their components can be recycled to make new products.

The joint venture was running from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, and just two hours into the event the volunteers had already collected at least 100 pounds of items from local residents who wanted to get rid of their worn out and broken computers, phones, televisions, major appliances and more.

Keep Polk Beautiful’s Randy Cook said he and the volunteers at the Recycling Day were hoping to collect hundreds of pounds of items with the help of Fenley TV, who then ensures the variety of metals and plastics in electronics don’t end up in landfills.

Something to think about: the average smartphone that is busted and tossed by owners usually contains at precious metals like gold, silver, cobalt, copper, tin, tungsten, and tantalum that are all vital not just in electronics manufacturing, but in a variety of ways apart from the value of gold, silver and copper as a commodity itself.

Components in electronics also usually require the use of much more nasty pollutant elements like mercury and zinc, and plastics that when they break down over time in a landfill can potentially increase the levels of toxins in the leachate wastewater which if not handled right and get into groundwater and the environment, and when processed properly ultimately cost more to clean up.

A total of pounds of electronics will be forthcoming in the days to come, Cook said. He added that additional information about River’s Alive – usually held in September – will be coming soon as well as the event gets pushed back some weeks into October. Check back for additional details as they become available at Polk.Today.