Find your area's e-waste protocols

A new state law that took effect Jan. 1 prohibits businesses, governments, schools, nonprofits and trash haulers from dumping e-waste in landfills or incinerators. E-waste — computers and computer peripherals, televisions, cellphones, DVD players, other small electronic equipment, etc. — must now be recycled. Beginning Jan. 1, 2015, the ban will apply to residential and household customers, which means no one will be able to place electronic waste at the curb for pickup.

Some of Long Island’s towns and cities already comply with the new regulations, others are putting new practices in place. Here is a roundup of those actions:

Manufacturers of some electronic products are now required to cover the cost of the disposal of their products and the city will receive 3 to 4 cents per pound in revenue from the e-waste hauled away by manufacturers, Archambault said.

The town board last month agreed on a contract with Suffolk Industrial Recovery Inc. of Coram. The vendor will compensate the town $150 per ton for e-cycle material (7.5 cents per pound).

There is one drop-off site — the Recycling Center at 641 New York Ave. The town also can have one or more off-site special collection events if it chooses; one is planned this year in conjunction with Earth Day, April 21.

The town will place a sticker on e-waste left curbside by businesses. The sticker will inform the owner of the e-waste that it must be dropped off at no charge at the recycling center.

In 2011, the town recycled 178,000 pounds of e-waste, he said.

Islip offers a number of ways for residents to e-cycle: curbside collections the last Wednesday of each month; twice-a-year pickups during town-supported “STOP Days” (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants); bins that accept e-waste at town facilities at 401 Main St. in Islip and at the town-run animal shelter in Bay Shore; and the town’s multipurpose recycling facility on Lincoln Road in Holbrook, at which residents can drop off e-waste Monday through Friday.

City officials ask residents to remember to wipe computer hard drives before recycling them.

Public works director Kevin Mulligan said Long Beach started e-cycling with eRevival LLC on an ad hoc basis in 2009.

In 2010, the city signed a two-year contract with eRevival that expires in March. Long Beach is paying $350 per 20-foot container of e-waste, which holds around 3,300 pounds, Mulligan said. When the city signs a new contract, Mulligan said officials hope to start getting paid for e-waste recycled.

Town drop-off locations include the town’s Solid Waste Management Authority (802 West Shore Rd., Port Washington), Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the town’s Resident Drop-Off Center (999 W. Shore Rd, Roslyn), Sundays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

To date, North Hempstead town has diverted more than 130 tons of e-waste, officials said.

The town also hosts regular e-waste collection drives in conjunction with its Stop Throwing Out Pollutants program, which accepts pesticides, motor oil, batteries and other hazardous waste. Eight drives will be held in Massapequa, Syosset and other locations throughout the town from April through November. Computers, printers, cellphones and other electronics will be accepted. The dates and locations can be found at oysterbaytown.com.

E-waste picked up by commercial carters is sorted out for special disposal at the town transfer station, but that method increases the chance of pollution.

Right now, residents fill three 40-yard Dumpsters a year with e-waste, which is removed for free by Maggio Carting of Medford. Supervisor Sean Walter said the town is considering changing its current disposal system and probably will put out a request for proposals. “We want to see if we can make some money,” Walter said.

The town has a contract with e-Scrap Destruction to dispose of the material. Computer parts are ground down so that information embedded in microchips cannot be recovered, said town Environmental Protection director Russell Barnett.

In the town’s current contract with e-Scrap, which expires this month, the town pays no fees and earns no revenue from e-waste disposal. Barnett said he hopes to begin earning money from the program in the next contract.

E-waste can be brought to two of the town’s recycling centers — 30 Jackson Ave. in Hampton Bays, and 1370 Major’s Path in Southampton. Residents are advised to erase hard drives before bringing them to either of the two sites.

The town does not pay for or earn revenue from the disposal of e-waste, which is done by a contractor. The town is looking into a new contract that would pay it for e-waste.