NY Dec Launches Fourth Round of E-Waste Recycling Grants

https://americanrecycler.com

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner Basil Seggos announced that the fourth round of grant funding from the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) is being made available to help municipalities across the state address costs associated with the collection and recycling of eligible electronic wastes (e-waste). DEC will accept applications for these grants in January 2019. Since Governor Cuomo announced in 2016 that $3 million was available from the EPF to help municipalities collect and recycle e-waste, slightly more than $2 million in grant funding has been dispersed to cities, towns, and villages across the state to help them mitigate expenses. Approximately $900,000 is available for the 2018 funding period (January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018). DEC will accept applications for this funding opportunity beginning January 1, 2019, and no later than February 28, 2019.

New York’s Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, requires electronic equipment manufacturers to offer consumers programs to collect and recycle e-waste such as computers, laptops, printers, monitors, keyboards, video game consoles, keyboards, televisions and other small electronic equipment. The act has diverted more than 520 million pounds of e-waste from landfills for reuse and recycling between 2011 and 2016. As technology advances, the amount of e-waste consumers generate continues to grow. These grants will help mitigate financial pressures some local governments face in collecting and properly managing e-waste.