Suffolk County Executive Signs Contract to Provide Electronic Waste Recycling for Suffolk

Bohemia, New York -- County residents now have a place to drop off their potentially toxic e-waste, electronic waste, thanks to County Executive Steve Levy, who signed a contract with e-Green Management to provide e-waste recycling for residents.

Levy announced the partnership between the county and the Central Islip-based company, e-Green Management, LLC during a press conference Tuesday, April 14 at the Bohemia location of the private contractor.

E-Green Management won the bid for the request for proposal (RFP) the county put out several months ago. Company partner Kevin Ryan thanked Levy and his staff for their help and noted he was excited about the collaboration. Until this contract, e-Green usually dealt with financial companies throughout Manhattan, Ryan noted.

In his 2008 State of the County Address, Levy proclaimed the mission of the county was to recycle as much e-waste as possible; this contract follows up that promise, as e-Green Management will pick up old technological equipment at various sites around the county on set dates, and residents are welcome to drop off unwanted equipment at e-Green facilities any day, any time, for a nominal fee.

Computers, printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, telephones, cell phones, cameras, stereo components, audio-visual equipment, computer monitors and televisions are all considered e-waste. Hazardous materials found in these items with known health risks include lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, barium, and PVC plastics, according to the county.

From 2003 to 2005, materials landfilled or incinerated from e-waste contained over 233 pounds of lead, four million pounds of arsenic and 486,000 pounds of mercury, noted Levy, who stated that although residents wanted to recycle e-waste in the past, they did not know how to go about it, and this contract makes recycling e-waste possible and easy.

Based on a 2006 estimate, 2.9 million tons of excess materials are generated in the US, with only 330,000 tons being recycled. Nearly 90 percent of e-waste winds up in landfills or incinerators, Levy noted.

"Too much electronic equipment makes its way into our waste stream by either being disposed of improperly or burned in an incinerator," Levy said, "This is toxic stuff, the beauty of this is now we can get it out of our waste stream by recycling these materials."

Legislator Wayne Horsely, who is the chairman of the Legislature's Economic Development Committee, noted e-waste is one of the issues the county has had problems with, and jokingly added he has his own issues with e-waste: his computer just died. "It's a great day for the environment," Horsely said, "We drink the water that's underneath us and we don't want arsenic, et cetera, getting into our water stream."

At e-Green Management, staff typically gets a call from a client and the e-Green brings the item in to test all its parts, re-selling the parts that work. If a product is de-manufactured, they take it to the facility and break components apart, grinding them into metal pieces for use elsewhere, or turning pieces into everyday items, such as a ruler, which Levy showed to the audience as an example of e-waste recycling.

The first public drop-off day is set for Saturday, April 25, at the H. Lee Dennison Building in Hauppauge; this drop-off date is appropriately scheduled in concert with Earth Day, which is April 22.

Other drop-off dates planned thus far include May 30, Riverhead County Center; June 27, Central Islip Court Complex; June 25, Gabreski Airport, Westhampton and September 12, Bergen Point, Babylon.