Nearly six months after Minnesota barred televisions and computer monitors from landfills, leaders in some counties are finding the waste in rivers, ditches, wooded areas and trash bins.

County officials want legislators to revisit the electronic waste recycling law in the 2007 session and put the onus on manufacturers to set up an electronic collection and recycling system.

“A lot of people are saying they are seeing more illegal dumping,” said Annalee Garletz, policy analyst for the Association of Minnesota Counties.

Mankato-area officials say they have noticed an increase in illegal dumping.

“I don’t see it as a big problem,” said Rick Roemer, district manager for Waste Management, which operates the Blue Earth County Recycling Center.

He said similar concerns arose when tires and appliances were banned from landfills, and, while a few people will dump them to avoid the fees, most don’t.

Jean Lundquist, who heads Blue Earth County’s recycling program, agreed.

“Every once in a while we find TVs or computers in ditches, but it’s not a big problem,” Lundquist said. “Even before the ban went into effect we were surprised how many people brought in their (electronic) recyclables. They want to do the right thing.”

Area counties and some cities have electronic recycling programs. People can bring the items to their recycling center and pay a fee — usually from $10 to $25 — to have their TVs, computers, monitors and other electronics recycled.

Roemer said he has seen a big increase in electronics coming in since the law went into effect July 1. He said the plant, in LeHillier, has been taking in 15-20 tons of electronics a week.

All the items go to a Waste Management plant in the Twin Cities where everything is reclaimed.

The Blue Earth County recycling center is hosting a reduced rate electronic recycling event the week of Jan. 8. The cost is $10 per computer monitor or TV screen. Large console TVs are slightly higher.

Nicollet County residents can bring electronics to the North Mankato Recycling Center where they will pay 35 cents per pound.

North Mankato residents also are allowed free recycling during the spring and fall curbside cleanup events. Each residence is allowed to leave out one of each type of electronic equipment for pickup.

North Mankato City Administrator Wendell Sande said the city sends them to a certified recycling plant in Ohio. He said business has picked up since the new law went into effect.

“There’s definitely been an increase in electronics recycling,” Sande said. He thinks some of that increase is simply because many people are now replacing their first-generation computers or upgrading to flat-screen computer monitors.

Each piece of discarded video equipment contains 2 to 8 pounds of lead and smaller amounts of other harmful pollutants such as mercury and cadmium.

According to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency projections, state residents will get rid of 10 million pounds of televisions and another 10 million pounds of computers, monitors, laptops and printers next year.

Disposing of the equipment can cost from $5 to more than $25.

“Any time people think something is going to cost them money, there are those who will pay it and those who won’t,” added Kevin Ruud, environmental services director for Norman County. “It’s that simple.”

Garletz’s organization found in a recent survey that the problem tends to be more acute in rural counties.

In Polk County, for example, officials noticed that people were taking the equipment home after being asked to pay the recycling fee. But some people were determined to get rid of the stuff anyway.

“Lots of them are being left in parking lots after hours,” said Jon Steiner, Polk County environmental services director. “People drive around the side of the building and leave them by the Dumpster instead of paying for them.”

Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, is the new head of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee. She said she plans to hold a hearing on e-waste recycling early in the upcoming session.