Local elected officials join forces to bring electronic waste recycling event to Forest Park in October

This October State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. is once again partnering with Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar and Councilman Robert Holden to bring an electronic waste recycling event to Forest Park for their constituents. 

On Sunday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., a crew from the Lower East Side Ecology Center will be on hand at the Forest Park Bandshell Parking Lot in Woodhaven, to collect unwanted electronic waste. 

“Knowing how to properly and safely dispose of your broken or unwanted electronics can be confusing, so I am happy to be able to partner with my colleagues in government to bring this popular event back to the community,” Addabbo said. “By recycling our electronics we can help keep harmful components out of our landfills and protect our part of the planet.” 

Electronics that will be accepted during the event are: 

• Computers (laptops & desktops, servers, mainframes); 
• Monitors (CRT and flat screen); 
• Handheld devices (smartphones, tablets, MP3 players, e-readers, etc.); 
• Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.); 
• Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, cords, chargers, etc.); 
• Components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.); 
• Printers under 50 pounds, scanners, fax-machines, etc.; 
• TVs, VCRs, DVRs, DVD & Blu-ray Players; 
• Digital Converter Boxes, Cable/Satellite Receivers; 
• Audio-visual equipment (cameras, microphones, etc.); 
• Video-game consoles and accessories; 
• Cell phones, pagers, PDAs. 
   

Items that will NOT be accepted are: 

• Batteries of any kind; 
• Stereo equipment; 
• Landline phones/answering machines; 
• Extension cords; 
• Smoke detectors; 
• Any hazardous materials or paint; 
• Household appliances. 
   

“The United States produces 7 billion tons of electronic waste each year, of which only 15% is recycled. Such troubling statistics underscore the need to divert as much of this waste as possible if we are to have a sustainable future,” Assemblywoman Rajkumar said. “This recycling is not mere ‘virtue signaling’: we could recover $7.5 billion in raw materials each year if we recycled all of our electronic waste. That is why electronic waste recycling events like this one are so critical.”

“I'm proud to join with my colleagues in local government to once again provide constituents with a safe, convenient way to dispose of their unwanted electronic items in a way that is environmentally responsible,” Councilman Holden said.

In order to keep everyone safe, NYC Parks Department is requiring all participants to wear masks when in the parking lot, especially when interacting with a volunteer. Participants are asked to stay in their vehicles as much as possible, for the safety of the staff and volunteers. 

Please have all items in an easily accessible part of the car, such as the backseat or trunk, to allow a volunteer to safely remove them and bring them to the proper location.

If anyone wishes to exit their car, they must have their temperature taken and fill out a visitor health screening questionnaire — as per Parks Department requirements — indicating if they have any symptoms of COVID-19 or if they have been in close contact with someone who has contracted the virus in the previous 14 days. They will also have to provide their name, phone number and email address for contact tracing purposes if it is found that anyone with COVID was present at the event. 

“I want to thank Assemblywoman Rajkumar, Councilman Holden, the Forest Park Trust and the NYC Parks Department for their assistance in bringing this event to Forest Park again, which will allow constituents to recycle their electronic waste at a location right in their neighborhood,” Addabbo added. “And I want to give a big thanks to the Lower East Side Ecology Center for their continued partnership. I hope to see everyone come out on October 3 to safely recycle their e-waste.”