Some Utahns get the message that electronic waste is bad for the environment, and some don't.

On the one hand, there's the guy pulled over by a ranger a couple of months ago driving out onto public lands with 15 computer monitors in the bed of his pickup. He was planning on using them for target practice, says the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Erin Darboven.

"Hello?" offers Darboven, who sent out a news release this week reminding people not to dump e-waste on public lands.

On the other hand, with all the publicity about the digital television conversion June 12, local landfills that handle e-waste report a booming business.

"We've been getting inundated," says Dorothy Adams, household hazardous waste coordinator for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department. "We're filling these [e-waste] bins up so fast, it's crazy."

The agency, which offers free e-waste disposal at the Trans Jordan and Salt Lake Valley landfills, has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of televisions, computers and other electronic gear over the past few months.

The tab? Around $30,000 so far this year to recycle 88 tons of electronic rubbish.

There's a cost benefit for government to offer programs like these. Electronics can contain heavy metals and other materials considered hazardous, including lead, mercury, cadmium and flame retardant chemicals.

When you consider that one computer monitor can contain 10 pounds of lead, it's obvious that the hazardous materials can add up and strain the safety of landfills.

Eric Anderson of GRX (Guaranteed Recycling Experts) says business has steadily increased in the 3½ years the company has been doing business in Utah, collecting and dismantling electronic waste from Salt Lake County, Bountiful and the Wasatch Integrated Waste facility.

"People are becoming more aware," he says. "But we're still seeing only a small percentage, about 10 percent nationwide" of the waste generated.

Barbara Kyle, national director of the Electronics Takeback Coalition, notes that progress has been made, but many people who want to recycle their old electronics simply give up because of the cost and inconvenience.

"The options just aren't good," she says. "That's the problem."

Kyle said making electronic recycling easy and inexpensive is crucial, as Washington state has done. It began a free, statewide take-back program this year. E-recyclers are collecting 3 million pounds a month, about 57 percent of it televisions.

Neither local nor Utah e-waste experts expect the tide to recede. An Environmental Protection Agency report estimates that, as of 2007, there were 234.6 million cell phones, televisions, computer parts and peripherals in storage, many of them presumably destined for disposal or recycling.

Back at the BLM, Darboven notes that sand and gravel pits on BLM lands have become a favorite dumping ground for e-waste. Each one costs between $2,000 and $7,000 to clean up, given the threat to public safety and the environment.

"I think the public is generally unaware of the toxicity of this equipment," she concludes.

fahys@sltrib.com

This is a corrected version of the story first published on June 27