EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - An electronics recycling center in Eugene is turning discarded Christmas lights into services for homeless youth.
NextStep Recycling is asking residents to donate broken or unwanted Christmas lights as a fundraiser for Hosea Youth Services, a Eugene-based nonprofit organization that provides life-skill classes, job training and other services to homeless youth.
NextStep collects the lights, sells them to a metals recycler and donates the proceeds to Hosea, reported The Register-Guard (https://bit.ly/2j5S4jd).
The copper wire in Christmas lights has value, but the wire is so thin that the recycling effort doesn’t generate much cash for NextStep. Still, the people at the recycling agency like the idea of giving what they can to help homeless youth.
“It’s just one of those things that grabs your heart, you know?” said Nancy Retzman, business relations coordinator at NextStep Recycling, which recycles and refurbishes a wide range of electronics. “We’ve just got to help these kids and bring attention to the fact that there are so many homeless kids in our community.”
The recycling center near West 10th Avenue and Garfield Street has been collecting working and nonworking lights for the Hosea fundraiser since the beginning of December. It will donate all proceeds from the lights to Hosea through the end of January. NextStep has collected more than 4,500 pounds of Christmas lights and given more than $900 to Hosea. Retzman said NextStep has more lights to weigh and sell.
NextStep sells the lights to Schnitzer Steel, a Portland-based metal recycler with a Eugene operation. The metal recycler pays NextStep 25 cents a pound for the lights, Schnitzer General Manager David Sanders said.
Schnitzer ships the lights to companies in China, South Korea or Japan, where the lights strands are ground up to extract the copper, he said.
In some instances, those companies also can reclaim the plastic insulation, Sanders said.
Recycling of steel from cars, household appliances and other items represents the vast majority of Schnitzer’s business, with copper being a niche commodity.
Schnitzer buys Christmas lights directly from the public, but pays only 5 to 10 cents a pound, Sanders said.
“Typically around this time of year is when we see (the lights) when people take their lights down, (and) see that it’s an old strand,” he said.
Wiring used in construction has far more copper content, Sanders said.
Because of the large amount of insulation material and small amount of copper in the light strands, they are “on the lowest end of the spectrum” of copper wire, he said.
“It doesn’t have a lot of value, but (recycling) is definitely a better alternative than putting it in the landfill,” Sanders said.
Retzman of NextStep said the recycling center at 2101 W. 10th Ave. is accepting all kinds of Christmas lights.
Plenty of people bring light strands to NextStep, Retzman said. Last year, the agency received 8,856 pounds of them, she said.
But many residents don’t know the lights can be recycled and toss them in the trash, she said.
Hosea, at 834 Monroe St., plans to use the NextStep donations in its life discovery program, said program director Tauna Nelson. Youth learn skills such as bike and auto repair, how to apply for jobs, résumé creation and personal health maintenance, including managing anxiety, she said.
NextStep has collaborated with Hosea on several projects, Nelson said. The recycling center has donated computers and cellphones for Hosea’s clients to use. NextStep also has given Hosea a TV, computer projector and laptop computer for a teen who was starting college, Nelson said.
“They’ve been an incredible partner and ally,” she said. “We hear from them probably every other week about ideas to help our homeless youth.”
Beyond life-skill training, Hosea offers homeless youth meals, a place to do laundry and shower, clothing and access to transitional and affordable housing.
Nelson said NextStep surprised Hosea with the Christmas light project. It was a “fun Christmas present,” she said.
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Information from: The Register-Guard, https://www.registerguard.com
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