ISRI CONVENTION: A Proliferation of Legislation

Speakers at the Electronics Recycling Spotlight at the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) Annual Convention & Scrap Recycling Exposition in April expressed their concerns over a lack of national legislation. According to the information presented, 21 states have proposed 31 bills during the current Congressional session. However, these legislative drafts vary significantly.

“I’ve read the drafts, and the only thing they can agree on is that they’re printed on recycled paper and involve consumer electronics,” Robert Glavin, president of United Recycling Industries, Franklin Park, Ill., said.

Greg Voorhees of EnviroCycle, Hallstead, Pa., said, “One thing that really hurts this industry is the different state regulations.” He added that he’d like to see the federal government become involved to reduce the chaos.

Voorhees also pointed out that most of the legislation focuses on CRT-containing devices. He suggested that industry could take a proactive approach in terms of hazardous material management, resulting in less regulation. “If the industry can prove that we are handling these materials in an environmentally sound manner, there may be less regulation,” he said.  

“Get involved with the legislation in your state,” Voorhees urged attendees. “Legislators are looking for information.”

Clare Lindsay, who is the extended product responsibility project director for the U.S. EPA’s Office of Solid Waste, offered attendees an update on electronics recycling legislation initiatives at the federal level.

“I think we’ve accomplished a decent amount in two years,” she said of NEPSI (National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative).

The goal of NEPSI is to develop a national financing system to recover and recycle consumer electronics. The initiative is funded by the EPA and coordinated by the Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies at the University of Tennessee.

NEPSI has focused on CPUs, CRTs, LCDs, TVs and peripherals. Lindsay listed California, Florida, Massachisetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington among the states most active with the initiative.

However, Lindsay acknowledges increasing governmental impatience regarding electronics recycling. The indecision concerns the funding for electronics recycling initiatives and the roles of municipalities, consumers, manufacturers and retailers.

In response the the indecision, NEPSI is studying a variety of approaches:

• An advanced user fee paid by the consumer at the point of purchase;
• Partial cost internalization in which government and industry will share the financial responsibility for electronics recycling; or
• A hybrid of the two approaches in which the advance recycling fee sunsets into partial cost internalization.

“Canada is arguably a good bit ahead of us,” she said. “We’re not at the point where any of these is the obvious answer.”