MONITCELLO, NY — The backlog of e-scrap at the transfer stations operated by the Sullivan County Division of Solid Waste is gradually being cleared away, but that does not necessarily mean those facilities will soon again be accepting computers, printers and old televisions with cathode ray tubes (CTR.)

The issue arose in a discussion about a glut of e-scrap that has impacted the market on a global basis, and some recyclers in the U.S. have warehouses full of the stuff. Ed McAndrew, commissioner of the Sullivan County Department of Solid Waste (DPW), said that after the backlog is taken care of, the county will go out to bid to try to find a recycler who will accept e-scrap from the county on a regular basis.

He indicated that that might not be so easy unless there is some change in the market. He said, “They’re not taking it from us, because their yards are full.” He said there is no real ability for the transfer stations to store e-scrap because, “We would get to the point within days of pushing violations with” the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

Joe Perrello, chair of the DPW committee, said that if the county doesn’t start collecting e-scrap again, “We’re going to start finding this stuff on the roads.”

Legislator Scott Samuelson said, “They already are. I saw at the corner of Hamilton and Route 17B somebody put one of those monsters [television] out, with a big sign that said ‘free.’”

Both New York State and Pennsylvania, along with many other states, have set up systems whereby companies that manufacture electronics are responsible for taking back a number of items. But the amounts set up under the various laws were not nearly enough to take care of the vast supply, especially of old CRTs, which can contain four to eight pounds of lead in the glass and are therefore considered toxic waste.

Beginning in 2015, landfills in New York State were no longer allowed to accept e-scrap, and therefore the only method of disposing of it is to recycle. In the past, much of the e-scrap in the United States was shipped overseas to countries such as China, and dismantled by hand in unsafe conditions, but that is gradually changing, and laws in many states require that recyclers ensure that e-scrap is going to facilities that are legal and permitted.

Often, however, much of it goes to illegal operations anyway. A Seattle-based nonprofit group called Basel Action Network (BAN), which is working to end the trade in toxic waste, completed a two-year study of e-scrap items that had been secretly outfitted with tracking devices.

In May of 2016, BAN issued a press release that said in part, “BAN’s e­Trash Transparency Project so far has delivered 200 trackers across the U.S. to places where the public is likely to take their old electronics to be recycled—such as recyclers and Goodwill stores. The results are in, and we now see that instead of being recycled, 65 (32.5%) of these devices were exported overseas on container ships. Most of them went to Asia, and most were traded in likely violation of the laws of the importing countries. Of the 149 trackers delivered just to recyclers, 39% of these were exported.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing considerable backsliding in the electronics industry today compared to just a few years ago,” said BAN Executive Director Jim Puckett. “Toxic e­-scrap is flowing off our shores every day to substandard operations, harming people and the environment across the globe. Meanwhile, these exports deprive our own nation of green jobs and make it difficult for responsible electronics recyclers to compete and survive.”

In the past Sullivan County has accepted e-scrap in exchange for a fee. It’s not clear if the legislature will move in that direction again, but there is clearly a desire to have the county begin accepting e-scrap again.