State Laws on Pace to Double 2006 Total; More on the Way

A patchwork of electronics recycling laws is emerging from state capitals across the country, presenting manufacturers with a major challenge and Congress with a golden opportunity, the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) said today.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell are soon expected to sign new electronics recycling laws for their respective states. Manufacturers will then face eight unique sets of requirements – twice as many as there were a year ago. A number of other states and New York City are considering laws of their own.

"This is an issue crying out for a national solution," said EIA interim President and CEO Matt Flanigan. "These laws vary dramatically from state to state, picking winners and losers among electronics manufacturers and retailers. If fifty legislatures rewrite business models state by state, consumers could see higher costs and fewer choices – all without any commensurate environmental benefit.

"Congress can do right by the environment, consumers and the electronics industry by adopting a national recycling plan," Flanigan added. "We'll continue to work with Senator Ron Wyden, Representatives Mike Thompson, Mary Bono, Louise Slaughter, Zach Wamp, Albert Wynn and others to do everything possible to make that happen."

Recently EIA released a consensus framework that paves the way for federal legislation to establish a national recycling program for household TVs and information technology (IT) products such as computers and computer monitors. The proposal represents the first consensus agreement among IT and TV manufacturers on meeting the nation's electronics recycling challenge.

The framework calls for a bifurcated financing approach, separating TVs from computer equipment to reflect their divergent business models, market composition and consumer base. TV collection and recycling would be primarily conducted by an industry-sponsored third party organization and initially supported by a nominal fee paid by consumers at the point of purchase. The fee would eventually expire, once a significant number of so-called "legacy" sets are recovered. Makers of IT equipment would be required to implement a program to collect and recycle its products in a manner that is convenient for household consumers and at no cost to them. All programs, whether for televisions or IT equipment, will have to ensure that they rely solely on service providers that satisfy established environmentally sound management standards and related business practices.

>>View a copy of EIA's Electronics Recycling Framework