ELDRED, NY — That old stereo, TV, computer, monitor and all the other electronic gadgets that most of us can’t do without, but nonetheless become outdated every two or three years, are probably going to be hanging around the house a bit longer than planned.

In his report at the May 10 meeting of the town board, Highland Supervisor Jeff Haas revealed that Sullivan County is, temporarily at best, no longer taking so-called “e-waste” for recycling.

The situation was confirmed by the larger-than-usual pile of electronics that had collected before the shutdown at the Barryville Recycling Center last weekend.

The problem is not Sullivan’s alone. Across the river in Pennsylvania, Wayne County stopped accepting e-waste in February, and the issue seems to be the same. Both New York and PA adopted laws requiring the manufacturers and sellers to take back their products for recycling, but both states included annual estimated goals for them—and both greatly underestimated the amount of e-waste that would be generated.

In February, the Albany Times-Union reported that a large part of the mistake was the changeover from the older cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors to flat screens. The bulk of old monitors ran tonnage numbers up well beyond initial estimates and has not decreased in subsequent years. Retailers locally, also lacking any outlet, have been forced to warehouse the old equipment, which the New York Department of Environmental Conservation has termed as toxic.

The newspaper reported that “last year, it cost nearly $2 million for about a dozen upstate counties to support the CRT drag on their recycling programs, he said. Last week, for example, the Warren County town of Queensbury began charging residents between $3 and $15 to recycle e-waste, depending on weight.”

In PA, the glut and the collapse of re-sale prices drove many of the re-sellers, who had serviced Wayne recycling as middle-men to the manufacturers, out of business. The county has been seeking state relief and new buyers ever since.

Haas said the town would bear with Sullivan County to resolve the problem in “a couple of months,” but added that Highland would “hold their feet to the fire, because no one wants to see this stuff along the road.”

In related discussion, Haas announced that the town would, as of July 1, begin enforcing zoning restrictions against the excessive storage of unsightly trash at residential properties. He said that Code Enforcement Officer David Kuebler has already compiled a list of 18 properties who will be notified of the town’s intent to clean up those properties at residents’ cost, should the property owner fail to comply. “We’re trying to educate people. The law has been in effect for a while,” Councilman Scott Hallock said.

Haas also announced that the Millennium Pipeline Co. has agreed to the town’s request for a health impact study undertaken by a neutral consultant. He said the project’s clock would be stopped pending the completion of the study.

The supervisor reported that he had been in touch with Alan Hochhauser, who leases the Barryville office to the U.S. Postal Service. The office has been closed since a fuel spill in November of 2014. Haas reported Hochhauser’s hope that with the fuel cleanup now completed, the office should re-open in early June.

The board also discussed ongoing maintenance and repairs at the town hall’s Hero’s Park, and VFW Commander Peter Carmeci noted that joint VFW and American Legion Memorial Day ceremonies will be held at the park at 3:30 p.m. on May 30.