The Consumer Electronics Association, along with other trade groups, filed a suit against the city and the sanitation department in United States District Court in July, saying the law, and the way it was implemented, restricts interstate commerce and places an undue burden on the manufacturers the groups represent.

At issue is the Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which requires electronic manufacturers to collect and recycle nearly any discarded digital device by 2011. It was passed by the city council in 2007, overriding a veto by Mayor Bloomberg.

In the lawsuit, the CEA claims that the program requires manufacturers to “build an unprecedented waste management infrastructure and deploy personnel and resources to directly collect electronic waste.” The city has agreed not to enforce the law until after a hearing on the lawsuit.

That hearing, which was scheduled for last month, was postponed after other city and state governments filed amicus briefs with the court, siding with the city. Among those were San Francisco and Portland, both of which have similar e-waste laws.

“The lawsuit is so broad based in nature, it would threaten to undermine similar laws in 19 other states, as well as future laws in other cities,” said Kate Sinding, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council. The NRDC is an advocate for the law in New York, as well as similar laws in other municipalities, and has joined the lawsuit as a defendant.

Rules created by the Department of Sanitation require manufacturers to file electronic waste management plans that include residential collection of electronics over fifteen pounds.

“The requirement is unprecedented, disastrously expensive, and will harm the environment by putting hundreds of additional trucks on City streets,”  Jennifer Boone Bemisderfer, an electronics association representative,  said in an email.

Ms. Sinding disagrees that the law is unprecedented, saying that the manufacturers “are relying on overly burdensome interpretations of the regulations.”

According to the rules, acceptable waste management plans would require manufacturers to set up at least one collection point in each community board district for devices under fifteen pounds, and schedule residential pickup of larger items. Companies could be fined for not filing or implementing approved plans.

In rules published by the sanitation department, companies are encouraged to work together to create recycling plans. However, Ms. Sinding said the department has not offered to contract with manufacturers to pick up the electronics through the city’s existing waste and recycling collection infrastructure. The sanitation department would not comment on the lawsuit.

The hearing in federal court is scheduled for January 19, 2010. If the judge rules for the city, manufacturers will have 30 days to submit their waste management plans.