News Release

For immediate release

            Contact: Kevin Hutchison,

                          618-233-7703 

The St. Clair County Board on Monday awarded St. Clair Associated Vocational Enterprises Inc. (SAVE) a $25,000 grant to establish a recycling center for electronic devices.

“This is a win-win situation,” said St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern. “It provides work for the men and women who live and work at SAVE, gives our residents a recycling center and helps preserve our environment. There will be no charge to residents who want to recycle unwanted electronics.”

Once the center is open, hours of operation will be Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The Recycling Center is located at 620 North Illinois in Belleville, Chairman Kern said.

As of January 1, Illinois law will ban electronic waste from landfills. This center will provide residents with a place to drop off covered electronic devices (CED) and eligible electronic devices (EED) for recycling.

The money will be used make renovations to the SAVE building necessary to become a collection facility.

The money is coming from the Landfill Surcharge Fees and being locally re-invested. Waste disposal companies who use the landfills pay landfill Surcharge Fees, Chairman Kern said. The project is not being funded by the property tax.

Chairman Kern thanked members of the St. Clair County Environmental Committee for their work on the contract.

“The committee worked very hard to put this in place,” Chairman Kern said.

The St. Clair County Health Department will provide support and oversight of the project, Chairman Kern said.

Members of the Environmental Committee include:

Ø  C. David Tiedemann, Chairman

Ø  Charles Lee, Asst. Chairman

Ø  Joseph Kassly

Ø  Dixie Seibert

Ø  Marty Crawford

Ø  F.X. Heiligenstein

Ø  Patricia K. Keeley

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