A group of NIU students, Habitat for Humanity of Illinois and Vintage Tech Recyclers will be working together this week to safely recycle old electronics.

A recycling day will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Convocation Center.

Bobbi Burgstone, Habitat for Humanity of Illinois executive director, said the event is free and unlimited in the sense that people can donate as many electronics as they want and can be from any county.

“We have an arrangement with Vintage Tech and are paid by poundage collected,” Burgstone said.

The event was put together after NIU students contacted Habitat for Humanity of Illinois.

“I call us a team,” Burgstone said. “The four students are doing this as a class project. They are very active participants in making this whole thing happen.”

This project, simple in its beginnings, has become an involved process.

“We put this project together for our OMIS project management as a small idea to give people the option to recycle their electronics that are now against the law to throw out,” said Jen Hatta, senior business administration major and volunteer coordinator for the project.

In addition to being illegal, the group wanted the purging of old electronics to help out the environment and community.

“The project has two goals,” said Alex Vance, senior operations management and information systems major and business coordinator for the group. “One is to remove the potentially harmful electronic waste from the environment and recycle it in a responsible manner. The other equally important goal is to raise awareness of and generate funds for Habitat for Humanity.”

While the event gives a chance to get rid of electronics, it also contributes to the goals of Habitat for Humanity.

“The proceeds from this event will go toward building more houses for families in need of affordable housing,” Burgstone said.

While this is the first year these groups are hosting this recycling event together, it is potentially not the last.

“We’re hoping for this to be an annual event and we want to do more throughout the year,” Burgstone said.

Those interested in donating electronics can go to projecthabitat.yolasite.com/the-event.php to see the lists of items that can and can not be donated.

Anyone interested in volunteering at the event can contact Jen Hatta at [email protected].