If you’re looking to ditch an old television or computer this year, skip the dumpster and head to Clatsop County’s E-Cycle collection center.

The Warrenton Goodwill at Fred Meyer, 695 Highway 101 South, is one of 225 sites in Oregon that will accept unwanted televisions, computers and computer monitors for free.

In Washington, where a similar program began this year, Pacific Solid Waste Disposal, 4404 E. 67th St., in Long Beach, Wash., will take in e-waste for free.

Anyone can bring up to seven items for free recycling. The sites will accept all brands of computers, laptops and TVs as part of the states’ newly launched electronics recycling program.

However, collection sites may charge a fee for other unwanted electronics, such as cell phones and printers because those are not covered under the program, which is financed by electronics manufacturers and jointly implemented by the states.

You may want to call the collection site ahead of time if you plan to bring more than seven items at once.

For a complete list of collection sites in Oregon, go to the Oregon E-Cycles Web site at www. oregonecycles.org and click on the orange box that reads “Where can I find an Oregon E-Cycles collector?”

For more information on the Washington E-Cycles program, go to (http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/eproductrecycle/)

For those who do not have Internet access or cannot find the information they need on the Web site, the Oregon E-Cycles hotline is available at 1-888-532-9253 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Washington E-Cycles contact is Miles Kuntz, (360) 407-7157.

E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the U.S. In 2007, Americans generated about 232 million units of computer and TV-related E-waste, of which only 18 percent was recycled. Because electronics contain a host of hazardous substances, even small amounts of these toxics can be dangerous if released into the air, water and soil.

The new E-Cycle laws, which passed in mid-2007 in Oregon and in 2006 in Washington, require manufacturers to pay for the recycling of their electronics products sold in each state, and are expected to collect as much as 12 million pounds of electronics in Oregon and about 25 million in Washington in the first year alone.

Advocates say electronics recycling is good for the environment and makes good economic sense, too. Electronics contain valuable materials – including copper, gold and aluminum – that can be recycled and used in new products, conserving natural resources.

Tillamook County’s collection sites are Cart’M Recycling, 34995 Mecarney City Road, in Manzanita and Don G. Averill Recycling, 1315 Eckloff Road, in Tillamook.