New York City E-Waste Company Pushing Fee-Based Pickup Service in First Year of E-Cycling Law

The 4th Bin, a New York City-based e-waste pick-up service, is gearing up to take advantage of New York’s Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act. It goes into effect April 1, requiring manufacturers of covered electronic equipment (CEE) to take back a wide range of electronic waste. CEO Michael Deutsch said the company is “working on deals with some consumer electronics manufacturers” who are required to offer standard methods of collection to consumers, including drop-off points and collection events for discarded electronics, but who don’t have to offer “premium” pickup services for equipment.

The city is “especially challenging,” Deutsch said, because “transportation is an issue.” Many New Yorkers don’t have cars, so drop-off points “aren’t very convenient,” he said. April 1 is the date when manufacturers are required to make drop-off services or collection events available for free to consumers. On Jan. 1, 2012, businesses, municipalities, and “subdivisions of the state, including waste collection companies serving businesses and consumers,” will no longer be able to collect electronic waste for disposal, or dispose of any electronic waste in a landfill or waste-to-energy facility, said to the state Department of Environmental Conservation website.

The 4th Bin, which began operations in February, collected 300,000 pounds of e-waste in its first year and has a goal of collecting 2 million pounds in 2011. A Facebook promotion the company held this week to promote its fee-based service indicates the uphill battle it faces with consumer awareness. The promotion offered the first 50 people who “liked” the company on Facebook free door-to-door e-waste pickups. By the day after the promotion, Deutsch said, the company had received just 80 responses.

So far The 4th Bin has been relying largely on word of mouth to get its message out, Deutsch said. The company has a store on eBay where consumers can buy refurbished computers and parts. It also partnered with Earth911 and with the Department of Sanitation’s NYCWasteLess program, a resource for New York City’s recycling, waste prevention and composting information, Deutsch said. Partnerships with consumer electronics companies would likely boost exposure for the company, but they'll also indicate how much consumers are willing to pony up to discard of electronics in a responsible way. “We want consumers to know that it doesn’t have to be complicated to get rid of e-waste,” he said.

Fees for 4th Bin pickup services depend on the weight and volume of the pickup, Deutsch said. On average, he said, pickup fees are $15, saying “a laptop isn’t going to cost $15” due to its light weight and size, and a “300-pound TV isn’t going to cost $15 either,” based on its heft at the other end of the scale. Consumers schedule a pickup online by listing items to be recycled or refurbished. They're given an estimate for the charges based on weight, geographic location and “our costs behind the scenes,” Deutsch said.

Deutsch said The 4th Bin sorts collected equipment at a facility in East Harlem and tries to reuse and resell working electronics where possible via eBay, Craigslist or Terracycle. All other recyclable electronics are sent for processing to recycling partners that are exclusively e-Stewards-certified recyclers, he said. During the processing phase, items are shredded, refined and resold on the open market, said to The 4th Bin website, and then used to create new products. No products or components in the process are shipped to Third World countries, Deutsch said, which accounts for the fees that the company charges. “We keep things done domestically,” he said, “which is a lot more expensive to recycle versus shipping to Third World countries.”