New Year Means You Can't Just Throw Electronics Away

The holidays bring more new T.V.'s, computers and other gadgets into people's homes. They also bring the dilemma of what to do with the old electronics being replaced.

Starting Jan. 1, 2015, you'll have no choice: New York residents will have to recycle them under the state's new e-waste law. Cell phones, tablet computers, printers, scanners and many other electrical devices are covered under the new law. Larger buildings may sign up to receive secure boxes in which residents can deposit their old devices and have them picked up by a city contractor, under the city's e-cycleNYC program. Homeowners and inhabitants of smaller buildings will have to cart their old electronics out themselves, though there are nearly 100 drop-off sites to which they can bring them.

Old electronics, in particular, may contain harmful components.

"There are a lot of very toxic materials, particularly metals," New York City's sanitation commissioner, Kathryn Garcia,said, including lead, cadmium, and mercury. "These types of materials are very toxic for the environment, so we want to make sure they are recycled properly."

In this interview, Garcia talks with WNYC's Richard Hake about how city residents can recycle their electronics.