Area recyclers have been hard at work gearing up for the biggest recycling event of the season. Starting at 9 a.m. this Saturday, Aug. 22, the fourth annual Recycling Extravaganza will take place at Northland Pines Eagle River Elementary School.
The free event is open to the public until 1 p.m., or until the collection containers are full. Area residents are invited to pack their vehicles with unwanted items, electronics, and freon-containing appliances to take advantage of this free disposal opportunity.
Last year’s event served 538 vehicles with people coming from all over the Northwoods and into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to utilize the service.
Bob Blaus, the main organizer behind the event, is excited to once again bring this fantastic program to the people of the Northwoods.
“This is really for the environment, but it will also help a lot of people,” Blaus said.
Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations out of La Crosse will again lend its services to collect electronics. Last year the company was able to fully stock two semi-trailers with literal tons of electronics, and start on a third.
Don Scharf’s Automotive and Recycling will also be on hand to collect scrap metal and freon-containing items, which Blaus said was a big draw last year. Eagle River Recyclers for Trex will be there collecting plastic bags, and law enforcement will take drugs, medications and other items throughout the day.
“It’s awesome that we are able to keep this much refuse out of area landfills,” Blaus said. “We even get the U.S. Forest Service over here to deposit the things they pull out of the national forest that have been illegally dumped.” (See the related story on pg. 3A of this week’s paper.)
In 2025, Blaus and his team of volunteers collected 25.5 tons of electronics. A total of seven recycling dumpsters were filled, hauling away 26,000 pounds of metal and freon-containing appliances.
The Drug Take-Back Program also collected 48.5 pounds of pharmaceuticals.
Other contributions included three huge boxes of glasses and hearing aids; 20 American flags; 11 bowling balls; ink and toner cartridges; crayons; old gift and key cards; and 291 pounds of clean and dry plastic bags and film.
Although the event is free, attendees are encouraged to bring unexpired, nonperishable food items or cash donations to support the Vilas County Food Pantry. The pantry received 883 pounds of food and $1,229 in donations from recyclers in 2025.
The event has been so successful that last fall, Blaus was commended for his dedication to keeping items out of the landfill by the Wisconsin DNR as part of the Wisconsin Recycling Excellence Awards.
There is a long list of items that are accepted at the extravaganza.
Household items to recycle include American flags, crayons, eyeglasses and hearing aids, bread tags, ink and toner cartridges, bowling balls, and old gift and key cards.
Don Scharf Automotive will collect items including air conditioning units and dehumidifiers; refrigerators and freezers; washers, dryers and grills (no propane tanks allowed); lawnmowers, outboards and bicycles; and metal appliances and furniture.
Free electronics recycling is being funded by the Wisconsin DNR. People can bring in their electric cords and wires; keyboards, mice and speakers; holiday lights (no garlands); printers, scanners and hard drives; microwaves; CRT and LED TVs and monitors; cell phones, tablets and laptops; audio equipment; routers, modems and servers; as well as DVD, VHS and Blu-Ray players.
As part of the Drug Take Back Program, the public can drop off prescription and over the counter medications; ointments, creams or patches; inhalers and non-aerosol sprays; vape devices with the batteries removed; pet medications; and medication vials.
As part of the Eagle River Recyclers for Trex plastic recycling, guests can bring clean and dry grocery, bread, or dry cleaning bags; newspaper sleeves; bubble wrap or air pillows; pallet wrap or case overwrap; and plastic shipping envelopes for disposal.
“It’s great to be able to recover precious metals that have no business going into the ground (in landfills), while also helping the environment and saving people a lot of money,” Blaus said.
With hundreds of vehicles coming through, Blaus is again asking community members to donate some of their time to help keep the flow moving.
“We’ve just been blown away by the turnout each year, but we need community members to lend a helping hand for us to keep the line moving smoothly,” Blaus said. “This is such a great program and we have such fantastic helpers, but we can always use more. Anyone who cares about their environment and wants to help out is more than welcome.”
Anyone who would like to take part or would like more information on how they can help should contact Blaus at bblaus@aol.com or 630-306-2941.
Blaus noted that while there will be handcarts and volunteers on site to assist, participants should come prepared to help unload their own vehicles and trailers.
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