A North Carolina law goes into effect this week that bans electronics from landfills. Starting Friday, materials like computer equipment and televisions will have to go to local recycling facilities. Lowell Shaw of Wake County Waste Management says the law keeps elements in electronics hardware like cadmium and mercury from seeping into groundwater.
Lowell Shaw: "If there are computers that are really recent and in good shape, they will refurbish those computers, and then they can either resell it or donate it. If they can't refurbish or reuse it, they will salvage the materials out of it - the circuit boards - everything they can use out of it."
County governments across North Carolina are creating facilities to gather electronics and many already have recycling centers. The new law adds electronics to a list of materials banned from landfills, including plastic bottles, wooden pallets and oil filters.