Got a new computer or TV for Christmas and want to get rid of your old one? Or is that old 19-inch dinosaur still collecting dust on its metal cabinet in your basement?
Disposal of your old electronics got a bit trickier in the new year for many New Yorkers.
Under a new law that took effect Jan. 1, both private and public haulers are prohibited from collecting electronic waste, except for recycling. Haulers are now prohibited from disposing e-waste at landfills and waste-to-energy facilities in New York.
Residents who have municipal trash collection can still put their electronic wastes curbside for recycling on bulk waste days, Riverhead sanitation superintendent John Reeve said. (See pickup schedule.) That’s because the town’s contracted carter brings all such wastes collected to “a single stream recycling center,” Reeve said.
Residents who don’t have municipal trash collection — people who live in condominium or apartment complexes and mobile/manufactured home communities — should check with their waste hauler to find out if they can put out e-waste for collection and recycling.
There are three other options for disposing electronic wastes in Riverhead.
The town operates an e-waste collection facility five days a week at the Youngs Avenue yard waste disposal site, It’s open five days a week — Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday — from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It’s available free to all town residents.
Electronic wastes can also be dropped off on one of the two household hazardous waste collection days in 2012 — May 12 and Oct. 27 — at the town highway yard on Osborn Avenue.
Finally, e-wastes can be disposed of by one of the methods the law requires manufacturers to make available: drop-off at a designated retailer or other collection site, or shipment back to the manufacturer, free of charge.
The types of waste subject to the new ban:
- Computers
- Televisions
- Cathode ray tubes
- Small scale servers
- Computer peripherals (including any cable, cord, or wiring permanently affixed to or incorporated into the computer peripheral.)
- Monitors
- Electronic keyboards
- Electronic mice or similar pointing devices
- Facsimile machines, document scanners, and printers
- Small electronic equipment (including any cable, cord, or wiring permanently affixed to or incorporated into the small electronic equipment.)
- VCRs
- Digital video recorders
- Portable digital music players
- DVD players
- Digital converter boxes
- Cable or satellite receivers
- Electronic or video game consoles
Click here to download a list of manufacturers, covered products, toll-free numbers and website addresses (PDF format).
The law requires these services be made available for all municipalities, schools and small businesses too — though for-profit businesses with 50 or more full-time employees and not-for-profit corporations with 75 or more full-time employees may be assessed a charge for these services.
The law also requires haulers and waste facility operators to provide customers with written information about options for recycling unwanted electronics.
The Department of Environmental Conservation has been overseeing implementation of the law. For more information about electronic waste disposal requirements, visit the DEC website.
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