If you’ve got an old computer and you’re planning to toss it in the trash, you might want to rethink that decision.

It can be recycled, although it’s an easier venture in some places in the region than others.

Better yet: Sometimes for free.

In Douglas County, the city of Lawrence’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Division Web site, lawrencerecycles.org/computer.shtml, lists sites where electronics can be dropped off or donated in Lawrence.

One option is UNI Computers, 1403 W. 23rd St. UNI accepts unwanted electronics for recycling, in most cases without charge. Computer monitors, which are considered hazardous because they contain lead, come with a $10 handling fee for recycling. Store manager Chad Frickey says the cost is worth the benefits.

“It’s much cheaper for you in the long run to recycle with us instead of throw it away and let it destroy the environment,” Frickey says.

Another option is Office Depot, 2525 Iowa. As part of the chain’s Tech Recycling Service, the store sells three sizes of boxes that can be filled with electronics to be recycled. The charge for the box – $5, $10 or $15, depending on size – covers the shipping, handling and recycling costs.

Other retailers in Lawrence offer free drop-offs for smaller electronics, such as cell phones and rechargeable batteries. Those retailers are listed on the city’s Web site, as are several computer companies that offer programs for trading in old computers.

Kathy Richardson, waste reduction and recycling operations supervisor with the city of Lawrence, hopes to see more manufacturers get involved in recycling programs.

“When you can’t get a national solution, you hear about all these cities or counties taking it on themselves,” Richardson says. “It’s kind of a struggle for cities and counties that don’t have the resources available. We’re lucky that we do. At the same time, if we just do that, we’re not encouraging the manufacturers.”

Bounty of benefits

Green-minded people wanting to recycle their e-waste should take the extra step, even if it means going out of town to do so, says Chet McLaughlin, environmental engineer for the Environmental Protection Agency.

“All electronics include toxic heavy metals and include other types of chemicals that, if people handled on their own, could cause problems or expose them to things they shouldn’t be exposed to,” McLaughlin says. “Probably the most important argument to recycling electronics is that it makes our society much more efficient if we recycle old electronics into new electronics that we can all use and enjoy.”

By recycling, experts say, consumers can do a lot for the environment. First, they can lessen their impact on landfills. Although electronics account for fewer than 2 percent of the municipal solid waste in the nation, that number is expected to grow if consumers continue to buy electronics at the current rate, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

In 2005, used or unwanted electronics, including computers and cell phones, amounted to about 1.9 million to 2.2 million tons of waste, according to the EPA. Of that, only 345,000 to 379,000 tons were recycled.

Recycling also helps keep toxins out of the environment. Many electronics, such as computer monitors, contain hazardous materials.

“That is what’s most important to keep from the landfill,” Richardson says.

For instance, an average of four pounds of lead can be found in computer monitors and older TV picture tubes, according to the EPA. The EPA also lists chromium, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, nickel and zinc as other toxic materials that can be found in electronics.

Collection drive in works

In addition to keeping track of local recycling options, Lawrence Waste Reduction and Recycling Division is also developing an electronics collection drive.

“We really don’t know much about handling electronic waste,” Richardson says. “We’re definitely trying to learn as much as we can about that and not only that, just being really smart about choices.”

One of those choices is where the electronics are recycled. A lot of electronic waste that is collected to be recycled is sent overseas, Richardson says, where it is improperly handled or can end up in landfills.

“A lot of communities here in the United States have had these collection events, and everybody feels so happy they’re recycling and they’re not ending up in landfills,” she says. “But then it’s ending up in Third World countries where the waste ends up polluting the rivers.”

Richardson says the city is making sure to partner with companies that can assure the collected items would be recycled safely.

She says the need for recycling options will continue to grow, especially as more consumers switch to high-definition televisions.

“I think that throughout this year, there’s going to be even more calls because of the TVs switching out,” she says. “We’ve been learning about it, and we’re getting ready to get into action.”