Queens residents can head to Flushing this weekend to properly dispose of their old or unwanted electronics.
The Queens Botanical Garden will serve as an electronics drop-off location on Sunday, Jan. 28, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The event will take place rain or shine.
Accepted materials include working and non-working computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, computer mice, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, phones, cellphones, audio/visual equipment and PDAs. The collected materials will be either reused or safely recycled.
The Queens Botanical Garden is located at 43-50 Main St. The drop-off site will be set up at the parking lot on Crommelin Street.
The event is organized by the Lower East Side Ecology Center, Councilman Peter Koo and the Queens Botanical Garden. In 2017, the Ecology Center collected over 1 million pounds of electronic waste through 74 collection events across the city and drop-offs at their Brooklyn warehouse.
E-waste recycling has been required by New York State law since Jan. 1, 2015. It is illegal to discard electronics in the trash.
“Electronic waste poses a danger to our environment due to the large amount of heavy metals contained in them,” Koo said. “Recycling these materials eases the burdens on our landfills, creates jobs and conserves natural resources. A sustainable community takes a conscious effort from all of us, and I’d like to thank the Lower East Side Ecology Center and the Queens Botanical Garden for helping to make our community a cleaner place to live, work and visit.”
For more information, contact the organization at 212-477-4022 or visit their website. For a list of frequently asked questions, click here.
