A new electronics recycling program was launched in Ontario on Tuesday with the aim of greatly increasing the number of old computers, television sets and fax machines diverted from landfills over the next five years.

Under the $62-million program, a network of collection sites is being set across Ontario up with the assurance that the electronics waste will be recycled or reused in an environmentally appropriate way.

The products to be collected include desktop and laptop computers, mice, keyboards, disk drives, monitors, desktop printers, fax machines and televisions. Cellphones and cameras will be added in later phases of the program.

Consumers can go to a website, called Do What You Can, select "electronics," and enter their postal codes or municipalities to find out the nearest locations of sites where they can bring their unwanted electronic goods.

A handful of retailers will host collection events in the coming months as part of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program.

"We want to get this stuff out of the landfill," said Barbara McConnell, spokesperson for the Ontario Electronic Stewardship, an organization run by industry to develop and operate the program.

"The aim is to divert more electronics waste in Ontario into programs where we can be confident that they will be recycled. "

McConnell said about 91,000 tonnes of electronics are sold in the province every year, while about 25,000 tonnes of unwanted electronics are recovered through public and private sector recycling programs.

The program aims to recover an additional 161,000 tonnes over the next five years.

Starting on Wednesday, companies that sell electronics products in Ontario will be required to pay a fee to ensure those goods are recycled or reused. The fees will be paid to the Ontario Electronic Stewardship to cover the costs of the program.

The funds will be used to cover the costs of collection, transportation, consolidation, processing, research and development and consumer information and education programs. It will also cover the cost of the Do What You Can website.

Kate Jordan, spokesperson for the Ontario Environment Ministry, said Tuesday that manufacturers will have to pay a fee based on the number of products they introduce into the Ontario marketplace.

"It's not a tax," she said. "This program is funded 100 per cent by industry."

With files from the Canadian Press