DEC says plenty of ways to dispose of e-waste

State responds to Orleans Hub article about county reaching deal to collect TV’s and other e-waste

Statement from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

ALBANY – The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation would like to provide information and address the inaccuracies regarding the NYS Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act (Act) which appeared in the Orleans Hub article entitled “County approves deal to collect TV’s and other e-waste” dated August 27, 2015. (Click here to see that article.)

Since the Act was implemented in 2011, NYS consumers have the opportunity to recycle a wide variety of electronic waste (e-waste), such as computers, computer peripherals, televisions, small scale servers and other small electronic equipment in an environmentally responsible manner, through the use of manufacturers’ e-waste acceptance programs.

In fact, from 2011 through 2014 over 350,000 pounds of e-waste has been collected across the state for recycling/reuse.

Under the Act, manufacturers of covered electronic equipment (CEE) are required to provide free and convenient recycling of e-waste to consumers across the state. The Act allows manufacturers to utilize a variety of methods to accept e-waste from consumers (i.e. collection sites, events, mail back programs, etc.), which means there may not be a physical e-waste drop-off location available to all consumers.

In accordance with the Act, manufacturers are required to run a year-round, continuous e-waste acceptance program and are required to collect a minimum weight of e-waste based upon their market share. There is no limit to the amount of e-waste a manufacturer or their affiliated recycling partners may accept. The state has not “capped the amount of discarded material companies have to accept each year” as stated in the article.

Consumers wanting further information on how to properly recycle their e-waste should visit DEC’s webpage for consumers by clicking here.

Also available on DEC’s website is a listing of registered electronic waste collection site locations sorted by county. Click here to see the list.

Illegal dumping of e-waste should be reported to local authorities. The Department will pursue enforcement action when necessary. Any questions regarding the Act or how to properly recycle e-waste should be directed to DEC’s E-waste Team at: ewaste@dec.ny.gov or 518-402-8706.