The waste from electronic devices contains hazardous ingredients classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "permanent biological toxins," including lead, cadmium, barium, beryllium, mercury and brominated flame retardants. When burned, many release dioxins. In landfills, they seep into the groundwater and never break down.

The electronic-waste business undoubtedly is a high-growth industry. The pile of tech trash is growing quickly as assembly lines kick out faster and cheaper products at a blistering pace. According to the EPA, Americans discard about 2 million tons of used electronics each year. That figure doesn't include the 128 million cell phones we toss every 12 months.

As of January, Maine joined California and Maryland in requiring electronic manufacturers to collect and disassemble discarded televisions and computer screens, removing the toxins for recycling or safe disposal, recently reported the Los Angeles Times. More than 20 other states are considering such legislation.

Last month, Washington became the first state to require manufacturers to fully finance and organize the collection, transportation and recycling of their electronic products at no charge to consumers, reported GovPro two weeks ago. Products covered include TVs, computers and computer monitors. Washington is the fourth state to set up a state-mandated recycling system financed either directly by manufacturers or by collecting fees on sales of their products. Senate Bill 6428, which received bipartisan support and easily passed in the state House and Senate, creates the Washington Materials Management and Financing Authority to develop and implement a statewide electronics collection and recycling program by Jan. 1, 2009.

Washington's is the nation's most comprehensive state electronics recycling law, notes GovPro.

In requiring manufacturers to cover the costs of managing unwanted and waste electronic products, the legislation provides a financial incentive for manufacturers to redesign their products to be less toxic and easier to recycle. This system engages manufacturers, retailers and the consumers of electronic products in solving a critical disposal problem that long has been considered the sole burden of government.

By 2010, more than 70 million computers per year are projected to be sold annually in the United States, with nearly half a million obsolete computers containing toxic materials projected to require management each year in Washington state alone.

But a hodgepodge of state laws would be far less effective than a single federal law. "Congress now has four e-waste bills pending but no political will to enact tough legislation," reports the LA Times. "Meanwhile, the problem is metastasizing, fueled by our insatiable desire for digital goodies."

Further, electronics manufacturers are cautioning their peers about the business climate facing their industry in Washington in relation to the new bill.

"Our coalition strongly supports recycling of electronic products," explains David Thompson, director, Corporate Environmental Department for Panasonic Corporation of North America. "Unfortunately, the Washington law will result in a costly and ineffective recycling system for state residents while increasing costs for environmentally responsible manufacturers doing business here."

Indeed, the Washington program will be free for residents, small businesses, schools, small local governments and charities. Yet manufacturers, who have a choice to implement their own recycling program or pay to participate in the centralized plan the authority will operate, argue that the Washington legislation will not provide all of the environmental benefits claimed by supporters. They (manufacturers) also charge that, absent changes to the new law in the 2007 legislative session, they will be "forced to pick up the tab for less reputable competitors that cease operations or simply refuse to comply with the new state rules."

By next year, obsolete computers amassed in the U.S. will number 500 million, according to the U.S. National Safety Council. Between now and 2009, more than 550 million computers and analog TVs — in addition to all of our portable electronic toys — will be thrown away in the continental United States. Noisome, yes, but the U.S. currently has no way to deal with the toxins contained in this cyber-trash. In fact, we need to outsource it, which we already are doing.

American exporters rely on a "shifty menu of strategies" (LA Times) to export our toxic garbage, thus making locations outside of the U.S. essentially e-waste slaughterhouses. Under the guise of "recycling," e-waste brokers ship discarded computers and dump an environmental problem onto these locations. Yet the Basel Convention — an international treaty designed in 1989 to address uncontrolled movement and dumping of hazardous wastes, including incidents of illegal dumping in developing nations by companies from developed countries — restricts international trade in hazardous waste, so all shipments of electronic waste from the U.S. to developing countries are technically illegal. Now, out of desperation, Japan and the U.S. are proposing to reopen the global trade in toxic waste.

The U.S. government doesn't ban, or even monitor, e-waste exports. In fact, the United States is the only major nation that hasn't ratified the 1994 Basel Convention, which bans exports of hazardous electronic waste. What's more, the EPA has no certification process for electronic-waste recyclers. Any company can claim it "recycles" waste, even if all it does is export it.

How important do you think it is for Congress to enact tough legislation, rather than our depending on a smattering of states enforcing electronic recycling?

References

E-waste is e-vil
by Giles Slade
Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2006

New E-Waste Law Poses Threat to Electronics Industry in State, Companies Say; Industry Coalition Pledges Efforts to Fix Problems With Legislation
Philips Consumer Electronics N.A. press release, March 27, 2006

Washington Passes Nation's Most Comprehensive State Electronics Recycling Law
by Government Product News and Government Procurement Journal editors
GovPro, March 28, 2006