BY ALEX ELLEFSON | Hell’s Kitchen residents David Cropper and Kevin Estrada scampered into a covered nook Saturday at the Harborview Terrace Houses to hide from the pouring rain. They clutched bags containing a keyboard, three laptops, three iPhones and several pounds of cables — items they accumulated for almost a decade.
They came to the public housing complex — located along W. 55th St., between 10th and 11th Aves. — to hand their old gadgets over to the Lower East Side Ecology Center (LESEC). The organization holds dozens of events in the city each year to collect electronic waste (e-waste) from New Yorkers who want to turn their digital detritus over to a recycler.
“It’s great to be able to come to something like this right near our home,” said Cropper. “I don’t want to see this stuff just get thrown in a landfill.”
Standing among stacks of printers, audio equipment, DVD players, laptops and other devices, Noel Gonzalez, the LESEC’s warehouse logistics manager, said he might collect as much as 4,000 pounds of e-waste that day. However, larger events, especially ones with fairer weather, can bring in 30,000 pounds.
“Obviously, if the weather doesn’t clear up we could have a low turnout. But we prepared for this to be a smaller event,” he explained. “When we have bigger events, we will have rows of pallets stacked with different electronics.”
The LESEC, founded in 1987 as a not-for-profit offering recycling and composting programs, began collecting discarded electronics in 2003. Today, they are the largest non-municipal provider of e-waste recycling services in New York City. Last year, they received more than 1 million pounds of discarded electronics. Comparatively, the Department of Sanitation reports about 4,700 tons (9.4 million pounds) of e-waste was collected in New York City during Fiscal Year 2016.
The organization houses the mountains of high-tech refuse in the Gowanus warehouse they opened in 2012. The warehouse is also a drop-off location, but they still hold collection events to reach more residents.
“We have a lot of seniors who are unable to transport their stuff long distances,” explained Maria Guzman, president of Harborview Terrace’s tenant association, which partnered with the LESEC to host the event. “A lot of their apartments can get a little cluttered. So this makes it simple for them to get rid of old electronics.”
Offering up devices to recyclers isn’t just a good deed: It’s the law. At the beginning of 2015, New York made it illegal to throw out computer monitors, cell phones, televisions, music players and many other electronic devices. Instead, consumers must return the items to manufacturers or drop them off at collection sites.
The move towards environmentally friendly e-waste management, like similar laws passed in more than two dozen states, is aimed at keeping toxic materials used in electronics from piling up in landfills. Electronics make up the fastest growing source of waste in the world. The UN Environment Programme predicts the amount of global e-waste could top more than 50 million tons next year — up from 41.8 million tons in 2014.
Furthermore, the United Nations estimates that as much a 90% of digital detritus gets shipped to unscrupulous recipients — often in Asia or Africa — who sometimes extract the precious metals and either burn or dump the rest of the materials.
“There are children in Africa burning motherboards to get the gold out of them,” said Daniel McGowan, who has been dropping off his electronics with the LESEC since they started collecting e-waste in 2003. “People don’t realize how harmful this stuff can be and think they can just throw it out on the curb.”
Which is why the LESEC partners with “responsible recyclers,” Sims Recycling Solutions and Hugo Neu Recycling, to ensure the devices are disposed safely.
“All the toxic chemicals have to be contained while the devices are broken apart,” said Gonzalez. “Then, the rest of the materials can be recycled.”
However, a small portion (less than 1%) of electronics received by the LESEC end up in the Gowanus warehouse’s ReUse Store, where they are sold or rented out. A savvy shopper might swing by the warehouse to pick up a cheap boom box, computer monitor, or cell phone charger. Sometimes, production studios seeking to recreate a certain era will pick up old personal computers, like the first Macs, or cathode-ray-tube televisions to use in a film shoot. Other items find even more exotic uses.
“Someone used the keys from a computer keyboard to make scales for their Mermaid Parade costume,” said Terry Sta. Maria, the LESEC’s ReUse Project Manager.
The revenue from the ReUse store makes up about 15% of the LESEC’s operating budget, while another 20% comes from the scrap value of the recycled devices, said Sta. Maria. The rest of the not-for-profit’s funding comes from grants, foundations, and private donors.
The organization’s e-waste recycling program lost one of its longest-standing supporters this month when Tekserve, one of the earliest Apple repair shops in New York City, closed their retail location. Tekserve began partnering with the LESEC in 2003 to host e-waste recycling events outside their store on W. 23rd St., between Sixth and Seventh Aves., and helped grow the fledgling program.
“It’s quite sad,” Sta. Maria said of Tekserve’s closing. “They were big supporters of our program.”
Tekserve’s shuttered storefront also leaves neighbors without a regular location for e-waste collection events.
“We actually kept trying to go to Tekserve, but we always missed the dates,” Estrada said after handing over his old devices outside Harborview Terrace. “Hopefully they keep doing these events in the area.”
Sta. Maria said the LESEC plans to maintain its presence in the neighborhood. He said residents should keep an eye on the e-waste collection events calendar located on the organization’s website (lesecologycenter.org) to see if drop-off opportunities are planned in their communities.
