Elected officials team up for e-waste recycling event in Forest Park this fall

This Fall State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. along with Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar and Councilman Robert Holden will be teaming up with the Richmond Hill-South Ozone Park Lions Club to bring an electronics recycling event to Forest Park this October.

On Sunday, October 9, members from Lower East Side Ecology Center will be on hand at the Forest Park Bandshell Parking Lot in Woodhaven from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to collect unwanted electronic waste.

“Recycling your old or unwanted electronics may be confusing for some residents as the laws surrounding what can and cannot be left out on the curb seem to change every so often,” Addabbo said. “That is why we love holding these bi-annual e-waste recycling events where residents can come and know that their electronics are being disposed of properly and not sitting in our landfills and polluting the ground at a convenient location right in their own community.”

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. 

“Recycling electronics is common sense. If we throw old electronics in the trash, they can leak dangerous toxins. If we recycle them, they can be worth $7.5 billion,” Rajkumar said. “We owe everyone a world that is clean, sustainable, and free of waste, including the 7 million tons of electronic waste we produce each year. That is why I am delighted to team up again with Senator Addabbo and our community partners to bring this popular event to the people of South Queens.”

“I'm proud to co-sponsor these e-waste recycling events with my colleagues in government and the Lower East Side Ecology Center, because they offer a convenient, safe and environmentally friendly way for constituents to dispose of unwanted electronics,” Holden said. “They're very popular and it's also fun to see some of the older items being discarded.”

“I want to thank my partners Assemblywoman Rajkumar, Councilman Holden, Lower East Side Ecology Center, the Richmond Hill-South Ozone Park Lions Club and 104COP for their support on this important event,” Addabbo added. “Over the course of the years of hosting this event we have helped to collect dozens of tons of electronic waste. I look forward to working together to help collect even more e-waste!”