AIKEN --- The city of Aiken is joining the electronics recycling trend.

The city will hold its second annual electronics recycling day Jan. 5 at Home Depot on Whiskey Road. Collections will take place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"We specifically pick this week after Christmas because we figure people will be getting new stuff, and they will be throwing old electronics away," said Tim Coakley, assistant director of public works for the city.

Setting unwanted electronics out with the trash pickup is discouraged, since electronics are filled with hazardous material such as mercury, cadmium, chromium, and lead.

"In the past, we've just thrown it in the landfill," Mr. Coakley said. "The city of Aiken uses a sealed landfill, but why take a chance?"

The city has contracted with Cleanlites Recycling of Spartanburg. Some of the electronics will be recycled, but material that is deemed harmful to the environment will be disposed of properly.

The company charges a small fee ranging from $1 to $5 per component, depending on the item.

Electronics are one of the "fastest growing things that are discarded in the landfill," Mr. Coakley said. "It's something new that started in the last 20 years. Everybody's got a computer and everybody's got a cell phone."

And with the cheaper prices of computers, consumers who like to keep up with the latest technology can upgrade their equipment every couple of years.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 1998 more than 20 million computers became obsolete, and only 13 percent were recycled or reused.

The agency estimates that over the next five years, that figure will increase to nearly 250 million computers, and mobile phones will be discarded at a rate of 130 million per year.

According to South Carolina law, electronics are prohibited and not allowed in a landfill, but the law gives an exception for residential customers.

Mr. Coakley says the reason for the exception is there is not a good way to collect the electronics, but he says that local governments will need to come up with their own solution to deal with the problem.

"It's gonna happen at some point because there's just so much of this stuff being generated," he said.

Reach Michelle Guffey at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or michelle.guffey@augustachronicle.com