HP Announces New Support For E-Waste Bill

Hewlett Packard announced that it is shifting its approach to how electronic waste is recycled in California, a change in its approach. The company said it will support state legislation to require PC manufacturers to bear the cost of computer disposal.

Earlier this year the company had persuaded California’s Gov. Gray Davis to veto an innovative e-waste measure in October. Encouraged by HP's shift, state Sen. Byron Sher, D-San Jose, author of the defeated bill, resubmitted e-waste legislation Monday, the opening day of the new legislative session.

Ted Smith, director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, called HP's shift a significant breakthrough.

``The combined HP-Compaq company is the single largest manufacturer of PCs in the world. They are the linchpin for producer responsibility,'' said Smith, whose group helped expose the primitive recycling industry in China. ``The fact that they have changed their position vastly improves the likelihood we'll get a very good e-waste bill in the new session.''

The company announced its plan late last month at a hearing in Sacramento held by the California Environmental Protection Agency and other state agencies on potential e-waste regulation.

A spokeswoman for HP said the company would soon formally submit its e-waste recycling proposal to the California EPA.

If adopted, proponents say, such a law could pave the way for federal regulations on computer recycling, and prevent hazardous material from being dumped in landfills or exported to developing countries like China. San Jose Mercury News