Keeping New Lenox Township environmentally clean, safe and beautiful has always been a top priority of your township government.

New technologies present new challenges for the township to remain an environmentally clean and safe community. As of June 12, 2009, analog television signals were no longer broadcast. Unless you had cable, satellite or a converter, your old television set was useless. This meant that thousands of old television sets would be thrown out and into landfills containing on average four pounds of lead which is hazardous to the environment.

Millions of outdated computers, printers, hard drives and other electronic devices are being thrown out on a constantly routine basis. Because they contain hazardous materials, they cannot be disposed of in landfills. Two hundred million cell phones are sold each year in the U.S. and one hundred million are thrown out, containing toxic materials from their batteries, fluorescent lights and other small parts.

New Lenox Township has worked with the County of Will and its Forest Preserve District to provide an environmentally safe and convenient place centrally located in the township for the disposal of this ever growing mountain of electronic waste (E-WASTE). A large e-waste disposal program and site is now provided at the township office for the safe disposal of old TV's and other electronic waste of all kinds. Items can be dropped off between the hours of 8:00am and 4:00pm, Monday through Friday, and also on the 4th Saturday of each month from 9:00am to 12:00 noon. As technology continues to change, the amount of e-waste will continue to grow and your township will work to solve this problem of disposal in an environmentally sound manner.

Example of items that can be recycled: TV's, computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, electronic mice, cords and cables, modems, CD, VCR and DVD players, radios, stereo systems, speakers, microwaves, cameras, digital clocks, hand-held games, video games, typewriters, copy/fax/scanner machines, calculators, palm organizers, answering machines, pagers, and telephones.

Let's all succeed at keeping New Lenox Township a clean and environmentally safe community in which to live.

Larry Wennlund, Chairperson