Village Board Implements E-Waste Recycling Program

As environmental and privacy protection concerns have increased in recent years, new laws have been enacted by state legislators around the country that prevent municipalities and businesses from placing in electronics () - such as TVs, computer hardware, iPods, DVD players, etc. - in the trash.

New York is no exception.

The New York State Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act prevents public and private waste haulers from collecting , unless it's designated for recycling or reuse, according to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

The law went into effect on Long Island at the beginning of this year, and it prompted the to enter into an agreement with WeRecycle, LLC, an e-waste recycling company in Mount Vernon, New York.

"We're now regulated as to how we dispose of e-waste," Deputy Mayor Kevin McCaffrey said.

The new agreement - approved at the Village Board - calls for WeRecycle to collect e-waste recycling material from Lindy at the rate of five cents per pound, payable to the Village.

Now while the Village will be paid for the e-waste it'll collect and store for pick-up by WeRecycle, the revenue for the Village will receive will be nominal, Mayor Tom Brennan assured.

The more important take-away is that an e-waste recycling program is now in place for the Village since, under the new law, it can no longer send e-waste to the Town of 's Covanta waste-processing facility in West Babylon.

So while the Village searched for an eco-friendly and secure solution to comply with the new law, it collected and stacked separately the e-waste from residents' homes it collected in the Department of Public Works' yard on Albany Avenue.

"What we've been doing when electronics were left on the curb is have our DPW crews radio ahead to our yard to alert them, and then another crew would come back to do a special pick-up," Brennan said.

In addition, as of March 1, in accordance with the new NYS law, the Village will open up the DPW yard on certain Saturdays so residents could also drop off their e-waste.

"The recent changes in the work clauses of the our CSEA contract now allow us to do that," McCaffrey noted.