Release Date: Monday, April 30, 2007

Electronics Manufacturers To Pay for E-Waste Collection and Recycling

Minneapolis (April 26, 2007) – The Minnesota state legislature today passed an innovative “producer responsibility” bill which requires electronics manufacturers to pay for collection and recycling of electronic waste from households. Governor Tim Pawlenty is expected to sign the bill.

This is the first bill in the country to set actual targets for how much equipment the manufacturers must take back and recycle, measured as a percent of the products they are selling in the state. The bill requires each manufacturer that sells TVs, computer monitors and laptops in Minnesota to collect and recycle an amount proportional to the weight of their products sold in the state during the previous year. They must collect 60 percent of the weight during the first program year, increasing to 80 percent thereafter. The type of products manufacturers can collect to meet this target includes monitors, TVs and laptops, including computer CPUs, printers and keyboards; fax machines; and DVD players. The program is expected to collect 28 to 29 million pounds of e-waste in 2008.

“This is the most ambitious bill in the country to date, because it pushes the industry to find ways to encourage people to return their old electronics for recycling. The electronics industry has vigorously resisted meaningful goals for collecting e-waste, but without having to meet goals, what incentive do they have to really push their customers to bring back their old stuff? This bill will also encourage electronics companies to improve their product design to make them easier to recycle. This is a very important step forward in addressing the mushrooming e-waste problem.”

Ted Smith, Chairman
Computer TakeBack Campaign

This is the fifth year where Minnesota legislators have tried to pass an e-waste bill. The bill, HF854/SF235 had strong bipartisan support, passing both the House and Senate by wide margins. (House 112-21, Senate 63-1). The bill was supported by a wide range of organizations, associations, and companies, including recyclers, electronics retailers, local governments, environmental organizations, and industry including IBM, who had opposed previous producer responsibility bills in Minnesota.

“This is a big victory for the residents of Minnesota and for the environment. We will now be able to easily recycle our old electronics. When manufacturers are responsible for product stewardship, including end-of-life recycling, we see new product design that is better for our health and the environment."

Sara Rummel
Political Coordinator
Clean Water Action Alliance of Minnesota

The bill was supported by a wide range of organizations and companies, including:
• Asset Recovery Corporation
• Association of Minnesota Counties
• Association of Recycling Managers
• Best Buy Company, Inc.
• Clean Water Action Alliance of Minnesota
• Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition
• IBM
• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
• Conservation Minnesota
• League of Minnesota Cities
• Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
• Minnesota Resource Recovery Association
• Minnesota Retailers Association
• Sierra Club
• Solid Waste Administrators Association
• Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board
• Target Corporation
• 3M


Minnesota is now the fifth state in the US to pass legislation mandating electronics recycling, joining California, Maine, Maryland and Washington States. E-waste bills were introduced in 23 states plus New York City for the 2007 legislative session, many of them still under consideration.

Over 133,000 PCs are discarded by US homes and businesses every day. 400 million units of e-waste (TVs, computers, monitors, VCRs, printers, etc) are scrapped every year in the US. The EPA estimates that only 12.5% of the e-waste discarded is recycled, with the other 87.5% going into landfills or incinerators. Minnesota is one of the few states in the US to have passed a landfill ban, outlawing the disposal of CRTs in landfills as of July 1, 2006.


The Computer Takeback Campaign is a national coalition of organizations promoting sustainable and responsible practices throughout the high-tech electronics industry, to protect public health and the environment. Steering Committee Organizations are Basel Action Network, Center for Environmental Health, Clean Production Action, Clean Water Action, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and Texas Campaign for the Environment.

Resources:

Summary of the Minnesota Bill: http://ww3.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/bs/85/HF0854.html  

Bill language HF 854: http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bin/getbill.php?session=ls85&number=HF854&version=list  


For general information on e-waste issue: http://www.computertakeback.com  

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