A California bill that would require electronics manufacturers to accept cradle-to-grave responsibility for their obsolete and toxic products passed two legislative committees in the last two days and is now headed to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Senate Bill 20, introduced by Senator Byron Sher is a comprehensive solution to the growing crisis of electronic waste.
Found to be dangerously toxic by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) two years ago, cathode ray tubes, or the picture tubes in TVs and computers, were banned from California landfills.
“That was the appropriate decision,” said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, a statewide recycling and waste-reduction environmental organization that is sponsoring SB 20, which has already cleared the State Senate. “But it didn’t offer a solution to people who are trying to figure out what do with these electronic devices once they become obsolete.”
SB 20 requires all manufacturers that sell computers, TVs and other specified hazardous electronics in California – regardless of whether through retail outlets or Internet sales – either to develop and pay for a recycling system approved by the California Integrated Waste Management Board or let the state contract for the recycling by paying a fee on each unit sold equal to the cost of recycling. Either program would have to be implemented at no cost to the consumer for the recycling of their product.
Additionally, a small one-time fee would be charged to the consumer at the time of purchase which would pay for collection of the unit when it becomes obsolete.
Over time, manufacturers would be required to hit target recycling rates which are initially set at 50% by 2006.
Manufacturers and recyclers also would be prohibited from exporting the waste to developing nations like China and India.
Senator Sher accepted a series of clarifying amendments to the bill, among them:
Clarifying and narrowing the scope of the bill to include only cathode ray tube devices and other video display devices that the Department of Toxic Substances Control determines contain hazardous waste.
Capping consumer collection fees at $5 for most computer monitors and $10 for large screen TVs. There are no such caps for manufacturers that opt to pay a manufacturer fee as an alternative to establishing a recycling program.
Establishes an initial 50% recycling target for 2006, and authorizes the California Integrated Waste Management Board to set subsequent targets.
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