While the Department of Sanitation announced the expansion of curbside electronics collection program to much of eastern Queens earlier this month, Commissioner Kathryn Garcia said the service was now available to all communities in the borough.
There has been some confusion if the program is reaching all of the neighborhoods in the southern end of Queens so later this month you can get rid of your electronic waste in Howard Beach the old fashioned way.
“With the city continuing to evolve its electronic recycling programs, it can be confusing as to who can recycle their old electronics with their curbside garbage and which neighborhoods cannot,” state Sen. Joseph Addabbo said. “That is why I will continue to hold these e-waste recycling events throughout my district, to give residents an easily accessible way to get rid of their electronics at a central location in their neighborhood.”
On Sunday, Oct. 20, crews from the Lower East Side Ecology Center will set up outside PS 207 along 159th Avenue between 88th and 89th streets from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. accepting working and non-working electronics to be properly recycled. Computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mouses, cables, TVs, VCRs and DVD players, phones, audio/visual equipment, cell phones and PDAs will all be accepted at the site.
Electronics often contain harmful materials, including lead, mercury and cadmium, so e-waste has to be recycled properly to keep those toxins from polluting the air, soil, and water.
“Electronic waste is a major environmental hazard,” Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato said. “Too many people just drop computer parts and electronics in the garbage. If e-waste isn’t processed the right way, it can poison sanitation workers and our water supply. That’s why events like these are so important, and why I am so excited to partner with Senator Addabbo, the Lower East Side Ecology Center and PS 207 to bring this event to Howard Beach.”
