Foam, electronics event set

A free recycling event will be held Saturday for Clark County residents interested in recycling block foam or old electronic devices.

The event will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center, 3510 S.E. 164th Ave.

Last year, the popular monthly event collected almost 17,000 pounds of block foam from 5,002 households.

“That’s an incredible amount,” said Jim Mansfield, a waste reduction specialist for Clark County.

He said the monthly event routinely draws long lines of vehicles with Washington license plates willing to go to great lengths to keep packing material out of landfills. However, Mansfield noted that, from an environmental standpoint, residents run the risk of doing more harm than good — especially if they burn lots of gas to recycle a relatively small amount of block foam.

“If they have less than two bags full, they should wait until the next event,” Mansfield said. “And they should try to go to an event that’s close to them.”

The county typically alternates block foam collection events between east Vancouver and Clark College near Interstate 5.

Total Reclaim, a Portland recycling business, takes clean block foam and converts it to pellets used in picture frames, office products and other items.