Computer Recycling Roundtable Held

The first of a series of roundtables was held late last month to discuss the growing waste stream of computers and electronics equipment in New York. About two million are estimated to be obsolete by next year in New York and experts in electronics waste management, manufacturers, environmental technologies and state and local government groups, among others, met to look at regulatory programs.

“These events will provide an opportunity for policymakers and interested stakeholders in electronics waste management to discuss and recommend state strategies for electronics recycling and management,” says Assembly member William Colton, chair of the Legislative Commission on Solid Waste Management.

Colton said the roundtables would provide crucial recommendations on how the state could address electronics recycling. Topics discussed at the roundtable included:

Current state regulatory and assistance programs

Collection and transportation of electronic scrap and recyclables

Certification of electronics recyclers

Difficult markets for components of electronic scrap

Usefulness of a prohibition of toxic material form disposal facilities

Desirability of mandating the collection and recycling of electronic scrap