Johnson County waste district swamped with used electronics

An Indiana law designed to keep hazardous chemicals out of landfills is causing an overflow of unwanted electronics at a central Indiana waste district's offices.

The law that took effect in January is supposed to bar items containing hazardous materials from reaching landfills. Those include computer monitors and accessories, televisions, DVD players and fax machines.

Johnson County Solid Waste Management District director Jessie Biggerman says some trash haulers are removing random electronics from trash cans and leaving them at the curb for residents to dispose of at the district's warehouse.

Biggerman tells the Daily Journal the warehouse is nearly full of computer monitors, televisions and copy machines. She says the office took in 12 tons of electronic waste last year but had received five times that amount by September.