New Yorkers no longer need to stock cramped apartments with unused electronics.
A new recycling law just took effect April 1 to monitor e-waste, or electronic garbage. Manufacturers are now required to make it easy and free for New Yorkers to recycle old computers and other gadgets.
There’s another reason to get rid of old electronics — protecting children and infants from choking. The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a new warning for consumers last month after a report showed an increase in injuries and deaths from batteries becoming lodged in kids’ internal organs.
Toshiba just opened e-waste recycling locations in each borough, kicking off April 1, the day the law began.
Computers, printers, telephones, televisions — all are welcome at their 54 sites, and dumping them is free.
People can become very attached to their electronics, said Lauren Dykes, marketing specialist at WeRecycle — which also hosts recycling sites.
“They’ll hand me their cell phone and be like, ‘[On] this phone, I found out that I was getting into college,’ or, ‘This is the computer that I wrote my thesis on,’ or, ‘This is the TV that I proposed to my wife in front of,’” Dykes said. “These things matter to people.”
WeRecycle hosts electronic recycling at every Goodwill in the city.
“It just frees up so much room,” she said.
