DANVILLE — The Vermilion County Health Department will have a free electronics collection event from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 6, in the north parking lot of Danville Area Community College, 2000 E. Main St., in Danville for all county residents.

Residents are encouraged to bring their broken, obsolete or unwanted televisions, monitors, cell phones and other electronic items to the collection event so they can be recycled. Microwaves will also be accepted for this collection event.

The event is jointly sponsored by Danville Area Community College, the Vermilion County Health Department and Keep Vermilion County Beautiful, and is open to any county resident, including City of Danville residents. Proof of residency of those taking part in the collection will be checked. Vermilion County residents will be limited to a maximum combination of seven items.

“In the past, we haven’t been able to accept microwaves, so we’re excited to be able to accept them during our spring collection,” said Jana Messmore, Vermilion County Health Department’s director of environmental health. “As a safety precaution, we ask that participants remove batteries from electronics prior to dropping them off at the collection.”

Dean of Business and Technology at DACC Terri Cummings, said that the college is happy to collaborate with the health department and Keep Vermilion County Beautiful to offer electronics recycling to the residents of Vermilion County.

“Encouraging environmental sustainability is a goal of the college, so we’re always happy to be a part of the electronics recycling collection event,” Cummings said.

Keep Vermilion County Beautiful will have representatives at the collection event accepting donations for beautification grants that businesses, organizations and individuals can apply for to assist in completing beautification projects.

“These events are great opportunities to remove unwanted electronic items from storage and to have them processed or recycled,” said Brenda Adams, executive director of KVCB.

The focus of the event is to collect CRT or flat screen televisions, CRT or flat screen monitors, and related electronic items.

Items such as cable boxes, satellite dishes, cell phones, computers, computer peripherals (keyboards and mice), printers, copiers, DVD players, fax machines, gaming consoles, laptops, PDAs, scanners, VCRs, wires, cameras, clocks, radios, vacuum cleaners and fans will be accepted, but most of those items also can be taken to local recyclers during their regular business hours.

The collection will not accept household batteries, paint, motor oil, or large appliances.

It is illegal in Illinois for electronic products such as televisions, computers, monitors, DVD players, fax machines and MP3 players to be disposed of in landfills.

Call 217-431-2662, ext. 5 for more information about the event.