Recycle outdated electronics

You can throw your old TV - or other electronics - in the trash, but this leaves hazardous materials in the waste stream and ultimately the environment. A better alternative, which will become the law in 2010, is to recycle them.
Under New York City’s Electronic Equipment Collection, Recycling and Reuse Act, which was passed this year, city residents can recycle their old electronic devices, such as monitors, keyboards and printers, by bringing them to the manufacturer for proper disposal.
Electronics manufacturers are required to set up programs to accept electronics - at no cost if they are returned by residents, small businesses, and nonprofits – by July 2009. Companies that currently take used products back include Apple, Canon, Toshiba and IBM.
“In this highly technical world, many households go through electronics like they go through socks,” said Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., who co-sponsored the Equipment Collection, Recycling and Reuse Act. “We need to harvest these old devices to make the next batch, saving as many resources as possible and preventing contamination.”
Between 2003 and 2005, Americans disposed of an estimated 2.25 million tons of electronics, only about 15 percent of which were recycled. Although recycling numbers have increased, the percentage has not, because Americans buy more and more electronics.
If large cities like New York do not take the lead, soon landfills could be overflowing with electronic waste, Vallone said. “To ignore this problem just does not compute.”