Is this law just for US manufacturers or does it include the pacific rim manufacturers? It shouldn’t include electronic equipment that was made before the law went into affect. Doesn’t seem fair to make it retroactive. The people who bought the equipment should be responsible for its proper disposal, but since it isn’t pracical to hold them responsible, they go after the manufacturer. Ayn Rand was right.

It’s going to be just like buying new tires. I think tire change places charge 3 or 4 dollars a tire to dispose of your old ones, I’m seeing a $20 per telivision disposal fee in the future.

“State officials say the law is for real — though details about how it will work won’t emerge until early 2011, when manufacturers must register with the state, pay a $5,000 fee and provide a general outline of how they intend to implement the law.”

I’ve got an idea how the manufacturers will come up with the 5 grand fee. Can you guess?

(Hint: Sure won’t come out of their profits.)

Effort aims to cut waste electronics

Brendon Kuchinick, right, and Blain Hoke disassemble

televisions at Regional Computer Recycling & Recovery

in Victor. A new law will eventually require most

electronics to be recycled.

What you can do

Some Rochester-area electronics recyclers are already accepting e-waste at no charge, and some municipal programs will continue into 2011.
But consumer options should expand greatly when the new electronics recycling law is implemented. For information about how the law will work and what e-waste collection arrangements are being offered, visit this state website: www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/65583.html

With record-setting consumer electronics sales predicted for this holiday season, countless New Yorkers are poised to consign their old computers, televisions and other digital devices to the scrap heap.
But people may want to hold onto their unwanted electronics a bit longer — because an unpublicized new law is about to kick-start a free, statewide e-waste recycling program.
“That’s what we recommend that people do. That’s what I’m doing with mine,” said Resa Dimino, a special assistant to the New York state environmental commissioner who specializes in recycling and solid waste policy.
The program, funded by electronics manufacturers, requires that they take responsibility for refurbishing unwanted equipment or seeing to it that it’s properly recycled. The law, approved by the state Legislature and Gov. David Paterson with no hint of fanfare in late May, eventually will ban the disposal of electronic equipment in landfills.
The law is effective April 1, but local recycling firms are already scooping up as much e-waste as they can get to prepare.

The goal set by law for next year is to capture 43.6 million pounds of e-waste. By 2013, the statewide target grows to 97 million pounds.
Under the existing law, consumers can toss old electronics in the trash, and many people do just that. Voluntary recycling programs exist in some areas, including Monroe County, but consumers typically have been charged a $5 or $10 fee when they turn in a computer monitor or TV.
“Every week I can go around and see computers or televisions at the curb. This will be a big change in people’s lives,” said Frank Regan, who chairs the local Sierra Club’s zero-waste committee. “We’re excited about it. It just seems so ambitious. Is this real?”
State officials say the law is for real — though details about how it will work won’t emerge until early 2011, when manufacturers must register with the state, pay a $5,000 fee and provide a general outline of how they intend to implement the law.
The law requires electronics manufacturers who sell their wares in New York to provide at least one “reasonably convenient method” for recycling old equipment in each of the state’s 62 counties and in every town, city or village with a population of more than 10,000. “It can be a fixed (drop-off) site. It can be a mail-back program, or it can be collection events. The manufacturers have flexibility to develop the kind of program they want,” Dimino said.

None of these industry-funded programs can charge a fee. Larger companies and nonprofits can be charged. There is no requirement for manufacturers to offer curbside pickup, though some private recycling companies will offer extra services, such as pickup of electronics and data destruction, for which they’re allowed to charge a fee.

Dimino expects some manufacturers to join collectives that will coordinate the program, and said existing recycling companies or municipal programs probably will be contracted to handle collections and processing.
Mike Whyte, president of Regional Computer Recycling & Recovery in Victor, said he anticipates a “substantial” increase in the amount of e-waste that’s recycled.
“The fact that there’s a law on the books and the word ‘free’ is involved — I think it’s going to generate a lot of interest,” he said.

His company, which has more than 50 drop-off sites in the region, is one of several in this area already waiving fees for consumers who want to give up their electronics for recycling. The purpose is to build up inventory to help manufacturers meet performance goals that kick in April 1.
Each manufacturer must take back and recycle its own products, but also will be given an annual goal, expressed in pounds of overall electronic equipment, that it must recycle. If a company falls short of its goal, it must pay 30 to 50 cents per pound in penalties.
Starting April 1, electronics retailers must inform consumers about local recycling options.

A growing trend

About two dozen states now have e-waste recycling laws, nearly all of which require manufacturers to take responsibility for the process, said Barbara Kyle, national coordinator for the Electronics Takeback Coalition in San Francisco.
“The New York law is pretty strong compared to some states,” Kyle said. “Some of them are not specific. They don’t say how hard a manufacturer has to try. New York’s bill has more specifics in it.”
New York’s law covers computers, monitors, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, handheld MP3 players, game consoles, cables, keyboards, printers, scanners and fax machines, among other items. Cell phone makers are required by a 2007 law to take back their products.
State e-waste recycling laws have two distinct goals. “One is to make recycling happen, of course,” Kyle said. “Just as important is that … by giving manufacturers the financial responsibility of dealing with their old products, at some point gives them an incentive to redesign their products and make them more recyclable and less toxic.”
Electronics contain a plethora of metals and other materials that can be recycled, but many of the materials — lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium and various chemical [THINK OBAMA LIGHTBULB LAW] constituents of plastics — are potentially harmful if allowed to accumulate in the environment.
The law bars businesses and government agencies from throwing electronics into the trash after Dec. 31, 2011, but allows individuals to continue the practice through the end of 2014. Fines of $100 to $250 are possible for violators.
The hope, of course, is that the new recycling programs will be robust enough that most e-waste will be recycled.

Said Dimino: “Generally speaking, most electronics are sold by large companies that have a PR interest in making sure they look good under these programs, so implementation has generally gone pretty smoothly in other states.”