Movement on NYC Electronics Recycling Bill?

Introduced in February of 2006, NYC City Council Intro 104 - the Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act - seemed on track to make New York City the first city in the U.S. with a law governing the disposal of electronic waste. Sponsored by Councilmen Gennaro and McMahon, the bill would require manufacturers of consumer electronics to recycle products they’ve sold when buyers are looking to discard them, thereby keeping them out of landfills and/or 3rd world countries where they often contribute to environmental degradation and damage the health of those exposed to them. While some states like Maine and Washington have enacted laws, the U.S. government has made no motion to try to come up with a plan like those in Japan, South Korea and the E.U. leaving up to state and local governments to act. And action is important in an era where we are cycling through computers, TVs and other electronics at ever-increasing speeds. In a city of 8 million people, all that waste adds up quickly to create a huge hazard*.

At any rate, the bill has languished for the past year or so, but the word coming down the pike is that it might soon be put up to vote. If signed into law, the program will likely take at least a year or two to set up, but it would get us on the right track of reducing our waste stream and stop the practice of sending these dangerous materials to out-of-state landfills, or out of the country entirely where they become someone else’s burden. Watch this space for updates on the status of the bill. For more information on the bill and electronics recycling, download this document from NRDC [PDF].

In the meantime, if you have electronics to recycle you can drop them off during any open hours at Build It Green! (and check out their fine assortment of building materials and home furnishings while you’re at it) or check out the schedule of events coming up around the city courtesy of the Lower East Side Ecology Center.

eWaste

* In fact, this waste is considered to be hazardous by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. However, household waste of this type is exempt from the more stringent regulations imposed on commercial and industrial entities, allowing residents to simply put their old CRT or console TV out at the curb with the rest of their garbage. This despite the fact that these items are loaded with PCBs, mercury, lead, cadmium and other potentially dangerous materials, not to mention lots of recyclable metals and plastics.


Posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 3:37 pm | Tagged in Legislation, Pollution, Recycling, Waste | posted by Jamie

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