E-Waste Solutions

Last year, lawmakers passed a law making it illegal starting in 2006 to dispose of cathode ray tubes from television and computer monitors in landfills and incinerators. It then fell to the Department of Environmental Protection to develop an alternative disposal system. With improvements by the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, the department crafted a reasonable law that requires manufacturers to share in the responsibility for disposing of these electronics without putting the cost directly onto consumers. Passage of LD 1892 would be a logical followup to last year’s disposal ban.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is the fastest-growing category of solid waste in the country. In Maine, the amount of e-waste grows by 100,000 units each year, according to the Natural Resources Council of Maine. By 2010, Maine’s stockpile of obsolete computers, monitors and televisions will reach an estimated 1 million units.

Each computer and TV set contains about five pounds of lead, as well as mercury, cadmium and other toxic chemicals. Disposing of that much waste by burying it or burning it releases toxins into the air, ground and potentially water.

E-waste disposal is currently problematic for many people, some of whom have resorted to dumping unusable monitors in boxes meant for donations at charities such as Goodwill Industries. Last year, Goodwill collected 25 tons of e-waste, a 30 percent increase, resulting in the agency spending money disposing of trash that could be better spent providing services.

Last week, the Natural Resources Committee approved the bill that would hold manufacturers responsible for ensuring that used TV and computer monitors don’t end up in the trash. Manufacturers would be responsible for setting up recycling centers and ensuring that e-waste that is collected there is sent to the proper facilities for disposal. Consumers would not be assessed an up-front disposal fee, as they are for tires and batteries, although municipal waste facilities could charge a fee for handling e-waste.

A potentially more far-reaching benefit is that it makes manufacturers give more consideration to the chemicals and materials they use in making computer and TV monitors. If the makers of these electronics must handle their disposal they will become more aware of what they are putting in their products. At a minimum, they may consider bundling or enclosing the components containing toxic material to make them easier to dispose of. Perhaps they will decide it is easier not to use these materials at all and to find less toxic alternatives that are easier to dispose of. This could have environmental and health benefits beyond the gains made by not burying or burning these materials.

While some manufacturers remain opposed to the bill, others such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell support it. “The bill recognizes that various stakeholders in the state – consumers, governments, manufacturers, retailers, and others – should all play a role in managing these products, and that manufacturers should accept individual responsibility for the recycling of their own products. HP supports this approach and we believe that LD 1892 establishes a system that will help drive environmental improvements while keeping costs to a minimum for consumers in Maine,” officials from Hewlett-Packard Co. wrote to lawmakers.

With this type of corporate support, this bill should move forward.