You asked for information about California’s computer recycling fee and Maine’s computer recycling program.

SUMMARY

California’s “Electronic Waste Recycling Act” establishes a funding system for the collection and recycling of certain electronic products. It requires consumers to pay a non-refundable electronic waste-recycling fee of between $ 6 and $ 10 when they purchase most televisions (TVs), or computers with either liquid crystal display (LCD) or cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors. The fee, minus a small percentage retained by the retailer, helps pay the costs of recycling the TVs and computer monitors.

Maine’s “Act to Protect Public Health and the Environment by Providing for a System of Shared Responsibility for the Safe Collection and Recycling of Electronic Waste” requires recycling of all computer monitors and TVs discarded by households. Under this program, towns collect discarded monitors and TVs and bring them to “consolidators” who separate them by manufacturer and bill the appropriate manufacturers for the costs of (1) handling the waste monitors and TVs, (2) shipping them to recyclers and (3) recycling.

CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRONIC WASTE RECYCLING ACT

California considers CRTs, which contain lead and other toxic metals, a hazardous waste, and bans their disposal in municipal landfills. In 2003, California enacted the Electronic Waste Recycling Act to create a funding mechanism to pay for the collection and recycling of electronic waste (S. B. 20, Ch. 426, Statutes of 2003, and S. B. 50, Ch. 863, Statutes of 2004).

The act requires all consumers, starting January 1, 2005, to pay a non-refundable “advance recycling fee” when buying at retail a new or refurbished (1) desktop computer with either a CRT or LCD monitor, (2) CRT TV set, (3) laptop computer, (4) “bare” CRT, or (5) any other product containing a CRT. The fee applies to all sales of displays with a diagonal screen size of at least four inches. The fee is $ 6 for screens of between four and 15 inches, $ 8 for screens between 15 and 35 inches, and $ 10 for screens larger than 35 inches.

The fee applies to all transactions in which the California sales tax applies, including leases, and to Internet and catalog sales to purchasers who take possession in California. Failure to collect the fee is punishable by a fine of up to $ 5,000 per sale.

The fee does not apply to used video display devices or devices that are: (1) part of a motor vehicle, (2) contained in industrial, commercial or medical equipment; or (3) in an appliance such as a clothes washer or dryer, refrigerator, or oven.

Starting July 1, 2005, consumers must also pay the fee on LCD, flat screen and plasma TVs, according to Jeff Hunts, a supervisor with the recycling program. The fee, minus 3% retained by the retailer, is used to pay authorized electronic waste collectors and recyclers.

Under the act, manufactures must provide consumers information regarding recycling opportunities, and, starting July 1, 2005, must report to the California Integrated Waste Management Board on the number of covered devices sold and the amount of hazardous materials they contain.

MAINE’S “SHARED RESPONSIBILITY” LAW

Maine will ban the disposal of CRTs in solid waste disposal facilities starting January 1, 2006. As of that date, Maine will require municipalities, manufacturers, consolidators and recyclers to share responsibility for recycling CRT and flat panel computer monitors and TVs discarded by residents (Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. Title 38, § 1610). (Maine already requires businesses to recycle their CRTs as a hazardous waste. )

Towns are required to identify which TVs and monitors are discarded by households. The towns are also responsible for the cost of collecting TVs and monitors and bringing them to a consolidation facility, where the waste is temporarily stored.

Consolidators must tally the number of TVs and monitors they receive, identify them by manufacturer, and bill each manufacturer for the costs of handling, transporting them to a recycler, and recycling. Manufacturers also must pay a pro-rated charge for products made by manufacturers that cannot be identified or are no longer in business.

Beginning March 1, 2007 each consolidator must provide its accounting of waste TVs and monitors, by manufacturer, to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Each consolidator must maintain, for at least three years, a certified statement from each of its recyclers that its process meets environmentally sound management guidelines. Consolidators must provide these to the Maine DEP on request.

Recyclers are responsible for providing consolidators with a sworn statement that their handling, processing, refurbishing, and recycling of computer monitor and TVs meet environmentally sound management guidelines.

Manufacturers must pay consolidation facilities within 90 days of receiving an invoice. By March 1, 2005, they must provide Maine DEP a plan for the collection and recycling or reuse of their computer monitors and TVs generated as household waste. Beginning July 1, 2007 they must annually provide Maine DEP with a recycling report for the products generated as waste in Maine.

OTHER STATES CONSIDERING SIMILAR LEGISLATION

According to the National Recycling Coalition and this web site of the Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition (http: svtc. igc. org/cleancc/) other states that have considered establishing an advance recycling fee include Minnesota, Texas, and South Carolina. The January 18, 2005 issue of the Minnesota Star-Tribune reports that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that he would support legislation similar to California’s. According to the Star-Tribune, individuals and businesses would pay a $ 10 recycling fee, of which retailers would keep 5%. Minnesota has banned consumer electronics containing lead and other toxic materials from landfills and incinerators effective July 1, 2005.

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