I’m pretty sure the Electronic and Hazardous waste recycling center on North Cliff has a contract with an outside company to receive the items. I noticed the few times I have been out there that the employees wear a uniform that is NOT city related.

They also scan your ID when you arrive. I’m sure this has to do with any issues they may have with items you drop off, like if they suspect you have a meth lab, etc.

I know the couple of time I have been there, they are extremely ‘picky’ about what they will take, and if they don’t take it, instead of just throwing it in their dumpster, they give it back to you. For something that is funded by the taxpayers, I find this strange.

But a friend of mine had a very unusual experience recently over disposal of televisions. He confessed to me that he has been there 3 times this year with old TVs, mostly cleaning up his deceased mother’s place and getting rid of his old TVs. Let me be clear, he was only dropping off TVs.

At his last visit they informed him he was ‘Over his yearly limit’ for dropping off TVs. He explained to them his situation with his mother, etc. The response from one of the workers was ‘You are banned from dropping off any more TVs for 357 Days!’

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

According to the city website, they have a ‘5 TV limit’ per year. There is NO stated reason why they have this limit. Baffling, I know.

So this is how we treat people trying to do the right thing by recycling OLD electronics and TVs? By banning them for a year?

The city really needs to look into having some customer service training or at least explain why we have a TV Nazi policy.

11 Thoughts on “Electronic Recycling center has strange policies on TVs

  1. They will not accept anything from a commercial property. For example if I own a rental property and the tenant lives a number of tv’s etc they will not accept them. They only accept from one’s personal residence or other non rental property such as a relative, etc. I have a problem with that in that my rental property pays the taxes to run the place just like my single family home that I live in. They need to change the entire system.

  2. Yeah, I saw that to in their brochure. The way I look at it, it only encourages people to say F’ck it and throw it in a dumpster.

  3. "Very Stable Genius" on January 7, 2019 at 5:53 pm said:

    That’s why I always drop off my 10 TVs a year on the 31st of December and then January 2nd:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryNxl-lpOME

  4. It’s like my dating policy, breakup with your GF before Christmas and get back together after Valentines. Save tons of money. Oh, and it helps with those uncomfortable moments at family gatherings when you struggle with how to introduce her.

  5. D@ily Spin on January 7, 2019 at 6:41 pm said:

    Dating policy!!! We’re guilty and there’s no innocent. My TV disposal policy is ditch in the country with .44 magnum picture tube explosion. 10 TV’s is major fun. Impose more limits and there’s more fun. Ridiculous rules deserve vigilante recourse.

  6. "Very Stable Genius" on January 7, 2019 at 8:04 pm said:

    Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark conspiracy.

  7. These stupid policies are resulting in garbage dumps on our rural roads.

  8. D@ily Spin on January 8, 2019 at 8:38 am said:

    Just another example of something the county should take over because the city is incompetent?

  9. anominous on January 8, 2019 at 9:30 am said:

    Lol, the breaking point was when Huether showed up with all those extra printers from city hall.

  10. Warren Phear on January 8, 2019 at 12:55 pm said:

    Household Hazardous Waste of Sioux Falls is still a great thing for SF. The reason they must keep it residential is too often a large business would bring in truckloads of old crt monitors, and hundreds of flourescent lamps at one time. Then the following week try to pull it off again. 5 sets a year for residential is not an unrealistic number. Recycling this stuff is not a moneymaker. Especially since the China tariff wars our esteemed prez has us into. Glass, the major component in old crt’s is not in demand anymore. Thank you tRump. Same goes for paper and plastics. Landfills are going to get caught up in this recycling war we are in with China.

    The city makes nothing on household hazardous waste, at least not we see. It costs money to ship out all those tvs and monitors. So…how do they do it? A good part of the funding the gazardous waste facility needs to operate come from the sale of methane from the kandfill to Poet in Chancellor. Last I seen a few years ago they made $180,000 a month. I am sure HHW also got some rebTes and some form of subsidy nationally, but the bulk of costs come from methane sales. It is a win win for us and the SF landfill.

    HHW used to be manned by about 80% part time city employees. That changed a few years ago to subbing that whole operation out. Why? Have no clue.

  11. teatime on January 9, 2019 at 3:06 am said:

    @D@ilyspin: Shame on you, even if that’s a joke! It’s horrible to see dumped furniture, appliances, etc, in the ditches in the countryside. Only slobs would do this IMHO. Broken glass — even worse.

    My dear, late mother spent hours several times a year clearing garbage from the ditches near their farm. Sometimes, the sheriff would come and look for identifying information in the bags, etc., such as a piece of mail. He would then return said bag to the doorstep of the person who dumped it with appropriate conversation. It was always from somewhere in Sioux Falls. The farm was 12 miles away from the edge of town. Quite a trip to be such a nuisance. Why not stop behind a big box store and do the job there? Just wear a baseball cap pulled down over your face or a ski mask and park where the security camera won’t catch your vehicle.

    As a kid in 4-H, for community service projects, we cleaned several miles of road ditches in the spring. That certainly taught me never to throw trash where it does not belong!

    HHW – let’s hope they can expand their recycling capability in the future.

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