Hauling your old TV to the dumpster used to just be a chore. Now it might be illegal.
Bills passed in both the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly would require consumers and manufacturers to recycle broken and obsolete electronics, making New York City the first municipality to do so.
In hopes of managing the growing numbers of electronic devices that are being disposed, such policies put the weight of electronics recycling on manufacturers. While the City Council initiative was passed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg earlier this month, the State Assembly bill awaits approval by the Senate.
Besides conserving materials, electronic recycling programs intend to mitigate the buildup of any toxic or hazardous substances in landfills. The City Council initiative mandates that all manufacturers of electronic equipment submit a plan to the city for the “collection, handling, recycling, or reuse” of used electronics, as phrased by the policy, enabling the public to return unwanted materials to their manufacturers for proper disposal. Manufacturers must also submit a suitable method of notifying the public.
Joseph Spelling, a researcher with the New York Public Interest Research Group specializing in recycling, said that such initiatives are absolutely necessary.
“It’s about making sure it’s not just the public’s problem when things become obsolete,” Spelling said. “It’s more and more of a relevant issue now that computers are everywhere, and their life cycle ends pretty rapidly.” Spelling added that since all TV signals will soon be required to switch to digital, more viewers will be getting rid of their analog televisions.
Passed Tuesday by the State Assembly—but not yet by the Senate—the bill provides a similar policy, obliging manufacturers to take a share of “orphan waste”—electronic materials whose manufacturer cannot be identified or is out of business. Twelve other states have adopted electronic recycling laws.
Currently, only a few manufacturers and retailers take back used electronics. For example, an employee at RadioShack on 109th Street and Broadway said the company does not take electronic waste.
Policies by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation force all businesses and institutions to dispose of electronic waste through professional dismantlers and recyclers. As of last fall, Columbia University has provided a box in the lobby of Lerner where students and faculty can dispose of electronics.
Both plans specify that manufacturers may not charge consumers for collection and recycling services, and impose hefty fines on those who fail to follow though on their plans. Any citizen found disposing electronics as regular solid waste after July 2010, for instance, could expect a fine from the city.
Despite his ultimate decision to okay the bill, Bloomberg criticized it initially. Making manufacturers unduly responsible for consumer behavior, he said, was like making newspaper printers responsible for readers who don’t put their papers in the recycling bin.
The mayor’s consent comes only after provisions for requiring manufacturers to take back a specified tonnage of waste, which would increase with time, were removed from the bill.
But Spelling says that holding manufacturers accountable is the best thing to do. “They’re the ones profiting off of it,” he said. “They make it knowing it’s going to be obsolete in a few years, and possibly dangerous.”