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E-waste Regulations - U.S. State Legislation |
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California
California was the first U.S. state to enact legislation to establish a funding system for the collection and recycling of certain electronic wastes. The California Integrated Waste Management Board first adopted regulations to implement portions of the statute. In September 2003, the California Legislature passed the Electronic Waste Recovery Act (SB 20/SB 50) that specifically established a recycling fee collected at the point of sale or lease. Manufacturers are required to develop, finance and implement an “e-waste recovery system” for the collection, handling, transportation, recovery, processing, reuse and recycling of electronic devices sold by that producer. The act was signed into law effective Jan. 1, 2005. The collected funds are used to provide financial relief to collectors and recyclers of covered electronic wastes. Electronic devices subject to the Act include all computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes, liquid crystal display monitors and laptop computers. Other key elements of the Act include: Reduction in hazardous substances used in electronic products sold in California and a Directive to recommend environmentally preferred purchasing criteria for state agency purchases of electronic equipment.
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Connecticut
An Act Concerning the Collection and Recycling of Covered Electronic Devices, designed to cover recycling household electronic waste, was signed into law in Connecticut in July, 2007. The law requires manufacturers of computers and other electronic devices to register with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). As of Jan. 1, 2010, the retail sale of computers, monitors, printers and other electronics marketed by manufacturers that had not registered with the state was prohibited. A disposal ban took effect on Jan. 1, 2011. E-waste from non-residential sources, including commercial, retail and government sources is not covered by the law. Electronics manufacturers must register annually with the Connecticut DEP and pay an annual registration renewal fee. The bill also assigned responsibility to municipalities for establishing e-waste collection checkpoints and transportation arrangements to approved recyclers, who bill the manufacturers for processing.
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Illinois
Illinois Senate Bill 2313, the Electronic Recycling & Reuse Act, was signed into law on Sept. 17, 2008, and establishes statewide goals for the recycling and reuse of electronics devices, and bans the disposal of those items in landfills starting on Jan. 1, 2012. Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, the law allows computers, monitors, printers and TVs to be collected for free at consumer electronics collection agencies across the state. Businesses pay a per-pound rate to have electronics recycled. Credits will be given to manufacturers to encourage participation and flexible options. The law authorizes the use of a combination of incentives and mandates to reduce the amount of electronic waste from being disposed in Illinois landfills. The program also creates recycling goals for manufacturers based on consumer participation and collection points throughout the state and gives manufacturers flexibility in the strategies they use to meet their goals, such as partnering with retailers and local governments to sponsor collections. Manufacturers, recyclers, refurbishers and collectors must also register annually with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. State residents violating the ban may be fined $100 for improperly disposing of an electronic device. Waste haulers face larger fines for knowingly accepting banned items.
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Indiana
Indiana House Enrolled Act 1589 took effect on July 1, 2009, and created a statewide electronics recycling program for discarded products such as computers and televisions. The e-waste program is administered by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and funded by electronics manufacturers at no cost to taxpayers. Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, Indiana updated its regulatory efforts to help reduce the amount of environmentally hazardous chemicals that might otherwise go into landfills from old computers, monitors, televisions and other electronic equipment with a new law that requires electronics manufacturers to register with the state by April 1 or be barred from selling their products. By 2013, manufacturers will be required to recycle 60% by weight of all the electronics they sell. After the first two years, manufacturers who fail to meet those goals will pay an additional recycling fee for every pound they fall short of their goal.
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Maine
Maine passed two electronics waste laws, 38 MRSA 1610 – Electronic Waste, and 38 MRSA 1306.4 – CRT Disposal Prohibition, both of which came into effect on July 20, 2006. The purpose of the laws were to “establish a comprehensive electronics recycling system that ensures the safe and environmentally sound handling, recycling and disposal of electronic products and components and encourages the design of electronic products and components that are less toxic and more recyclable." Under the laws, municipalities are responsible for ensuring a system for delivering residential waste computer monitors to a consolidation facility. Manufacturers are responsible for paying the consolidators for the costs of handling, transportation and recycling of electronics products, plus a pro rata share of products from receipt at the consolidator through recycling. Recyclers are audited for handling, processing, refurbishment and recycling of equipment to meet environmentally sound management guidelines published by Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which is charged with compliance responsibilities. Retailers are charged with ensuring the sale of products of manufacturers that are in compliance with Maine’s E-Waste Law. Facilities also must identify and properly manage components harvested from disassembly. Additionally, the CRT Disposal Prohibition law specifically bans the landfilling or incineration of computer monitors.
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Maryland
In 2004, Maryland enacted legislation requiring the state’s Department of the Environment to study the establishment and implementation of an electronic waste collection system. On May 10, 2005, the Statewide Computer Recycling Pilot Program (H.B. 575) was signed into law. It applies to all desktop and laptop computers and computer monitors sold in the state, and went into effect on July 1, 2005. The program requires computer manufacturers to register with the state before they are allowed to sell new computers. The law directs the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to assist counties in developing recycling plans, defining the methods for separate collection and recycling of computers and other electronics recyclables.
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Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) banned cathode ray tubes from all state solid waste disposal facilities effective April 1, 2000. Specifically, DEP took action to prohibit the disposal of CRTs in Massachusetts landfills and incinerators; remove the hazardous waste stigma from used electronics by exempting them from regulation as a hazardous waste if they are handled intact; and provide economic incentives for the establishment of a collection and recovery system.
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Minnesota
In 2003, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law that banned the disposal of electronics containing cathode ray tubes and went into effect July 1, 2005. A year later, legislation was passed that delayed implementation of the ban until July 1, 2006, in order to consider management strategies for waste electronics and address concerns from local government regarding the costs to establish comprehensive electronics recycling programs. The statewide CRT disposal ban in landfills went into effect in 2006, but with no program or funding to deal with the collection and recycling of e-waste. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) encourages collection and recycling of e-waste and has developed a policy to eliminate barriers to recycling. Collectors and processors who store or dispose of e-waste in an environmentally unsound manner are subject to hazardous waste enforcement. In April 2007, the Minnesota House passed a bill to establish a statewide program to recycle used computer monitors and other electronic devices. Manufacturers now will pay fees to the state to fund a collection program.
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Nebraska
Nebraska legislators on Jan. 17, 2007, introduced the Electronics Recycling System Act (LB 583). If enacted, the legislation would establish an electronics recycling program for the safe and environmental management of covered electronic devices, including computers, cathode ray tube monitors and peripherals. Electronics equipment manufacturers would be required to register with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and pay a registration fee to fund a program for the collection, transportation and recycling of its covered electronic devices. The DEQ would supervise the program, which would begin Jan. 31, 2008.
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New Hampshire
New Hampshire legislators in May 2006 signed into law a ban on “video display devices” from state landfills and incinerators. Video display devices include computer components that possess a cathode ray tube, liquid crystal display, gas plasma, digital light processing or other image projection technology, and its case, interior wires and circuitry. The regulation takes effect on July 1, 2007 and requires the state department of environmental services to monitor the disposal of electronic waste.
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New Jersey
New Jersey legislators on Jan. 1, 2009, enacted an Electronic Waste Recycling Act (A-3572/SCS) that bans the disposal of electronic devices and component parts as solid waste and requires $5,000-a-year state registration fees from electronics producers. The law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, and ensures that manufacturers and residents use safe and environmentally sound management practices when discarding unwanted electronics. The law requires every retailer to clearly post and provide information from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that will describe how to recycle the covered electronic device, in addition to the locations for the collection or return of the device. The law also will direct the DEP to post a plan that will establish the per-capita collection and recycling goals and maintain lists of all manufacturers in compliance with the act’s requirements and names of collectors, transporters, and recyclers that meet specific performance standards. Manufacturers that collect, transport, and recycle covered electronic devices in excess of their obligation may sell their excess credits to another registrant or apply the excess credits to the following year’s recycling obligation. Any manufacturer that fails to comply with the terms of its approved plan will be required to submit payment to the DEP to cover the cost of collecting, transporting and recycling the unmet portion of its obligation, plus a penalty fee equal to the cost of collecting, transporting and recycling 10% of the manufacturer’s total obligation. Under the new state electronics take-back law, electronics manufacturers who don’t recycle their products are subject to fines between $500 and $1,000 per offense.
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New York
The New York Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act was signed into law on May 28, 2010, requiring electronics manufacturers to establish a convenient system for the collection, handling, recycling or reuse of electronic waste. Manufacturers of covered electronic equipment are responsible for implementing and maintaining acceptance programs for discarded e-waste, with oversight by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. The law requires each company to recycle or reuse a certain amount of e-waste by weight each year according to their market share in the state, which is based on a three-year average of their sales. Devices covered by the law include computers, monitors, peripherals, small scale servers, televisions, printers, fax machines, document scanners and smaller electronic equipment such as digital video players and video game consoles. Starting in April 2011, manufacturers are prohibited from dumping e-waste in landfills, and the rule will be expanded to include businesses, retailers and local governments starting Jan. 1, 2012. Consumers will be prohibited from landfill disposal beginning Jan. 1, 2015. It is noteworthy that the state law preempted a controversial New York City e-waste takeback law that faced a major lawsuit by electronics manufacturers and industry lobbyists during 2010.
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North Carolina
North Carolina S 1492 was signed into law in August 2007, prohibiting the disposal of electronic devices such as computers, monitors, laptops and any other device with a video display in state landfills. In 2008, an amendment was approved by state legislators to add televisions to the materials banned from state landfills. The law went into effect on Oct. 1, 2009. The state’s e-waste bill was again amended in July 2010 and assigned shared responsibility for recycling electronics to manufacturers and local governments beginning in January 2011. Electronics manufacturers can designate their own recycling programs or pay for local governments to manage recycling. Computer manufacturers must pay an initial registration fee of $10,000 and $1,000 annual renewal registration fees.
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Oregon
Oregon legislators approved House Bill 2626 in 2008, which established a statewide system administered by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for collection, transportation and recycling of certain electronic devices by manufacturers. The law requires all manufacturers of covered electronic devices, including desktop computers, laptops, computer monitors and televisions, to register for participation in a recycling program and provide collection sites. Each manufacturer must visibly label all new covered electronic devices to be offered for sale or delivery in Oregon. The law imposes civil penalties for disposal of covered electronic devices at state landfills and other violations related to e-waste. Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, it became illegal for consumers and businesses to dispose of computers, monitors and other electronics at landfills, transfer stations and incinerators in the state. Penalties for anyone knowingly violating the disposal ban may be as high as $500 for each violation and each improperly disposed unit is considered a separate violation.
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Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania HB 708, also known as the Covered Device Recycling Act, established on Nov. 23, 2010, a statewide Extended Producer Responsibility program intended to recover computers and televisions and prevent improper disposal. Covered devices include computers, hard drives, monitors, keyboards, mice and printers. Electronics manufacturers of covered products must register with state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to pay a $5,000 registration fee, and renew annually. After Jan 23, 2012, retailers in Pennsylvania will be allowed to only sell brands that are registered with DEP. Manufacturers must also establish, conduct and manage a plan to collect, transport and recycle a certain quantity of end-of-life equipment. A ban on the disposal of e-waste in Pennsylvania landfills begins in 2013.
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Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Electronic Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling Act (HB 7789) was introduced in February 2006 and became law on July 7, 2006. The law was originally scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2008, but an amendment pushed the date to Jan. 31, 2009. The law shifts the financial responsibility for the costs for collecting, recycling and disposing of discarded electronic products from local taxpayers to the manufacturers. Electronics covered include computer monitors, televisions, and computer peripherals. The law directs the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management examine a broader collection, recycling and reuse program for electronic equipment in the state. The law prohibits retailers of covered electronic products from selling products that are not clearly brand-labeled, and requires them to provide information to customers at the time of sale about how to properly dispose of electronic waste. Vendors selling electronic products to the state must have a take-back program in place and make it available to the state as part of a business contract. The law also mandates state agencies to meet 95% of annual purchasing requirements with EPEAT registered products and establishes penalties for non-compliance. Rhode Island's e-waste law was amended with H 7716, which became effective on June 22, 2010. The new law revised several reporting dates required under the Electronic Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling Act, and requires e-waste collectors and recyclers to register annually with the state’s Department of Environmental Management.
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South Carolina
South Carolina House Bill 4093, the Manufacturer Responsibility and Consumer Convenience Information Technology Equipment Collection and Recovery Act, was signed into law on May 20, 2010. The act establishes a statewide Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program intended to recover electronic devices such as desktop and notebook computers, computer monitors, printers and televisions. The law requires electronics manufacturers to offer e-waste recovery and collection plans that are convenient to consumers. An e-waste disposal ban will take effect on July 1, 2011.
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Vermont
Vermont SB 77, a law to ban the disposal of computers and other electronic devices that contain toxins, was signed into law on April 19, 2010, and is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2011. The law covers desktop and laptop computers, monitors, devices containing cathode ray tubes, televisions, printers and personal electronics. The law additionally established requirements for convenient recycling takeback programs for consumers to recycle covered devices at no cost. Electronics manufacturers must pay registration and implementation fees unless opting for an individual plan, in which the manufacturer has a market-share obligation to the statewide recycling goal. The law designates the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources as administrator of a standard e-waste recycling plan.
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Virginia
In 2003, the Virginia Legislature passed a regulation, 10.1-1425 of the Code of Virginia, which permits localities to ban electronic waste containing cathode ray tubes from public landfills. According to the regulation, the locality must first implement a recycling program that is capable of handling all cathode ray tubes generated within its jurisdiction. Local ordinances are not permitted to contain any provision that penalizes anyone other than the initial generator of CRTs, the regulation states. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality established an Electronics Waste Management Advisory Committee in 2004 to review the state's electronics recycling infrastructure. The committee generated Guiding Principles for eWaste Management in Virginia, for use by localities.
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Washington
The Washington State Legislature passed the Electronic Product Recycling law (Chapter 70.95N RCW) in 2006, requiring manufacturers of computers, monitors, laptops and portable computers to provide recycling services throughout the state at no cost to households, small businesses, small local governments, charities and school districts. The legislature determined that a system must encourage the design of electronic products that are less toxic and more recyclable and that the responsibility for this system must be shared among all stakeholders, with manufacturers financing the collection, transportation, and recycling system. The Washington Department of Ecology is required to create administrative rules to implement the new law, which became effective on Dec. 8, 2006. WDE requires manufacturers to register, pay an annual administrative fee to cover the agency’s costs and brand their products sold in Washington. The law also prescribes the enforcement process and associated penalties for non-compliance.
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West Virginia
West Virginia legislators signed into law on April 1, 2008, legislation requiring manufacturers of more than 1,000 video display devices per year to register with the state and pay an annual fee that is deposited into a special account in the State Treasury to be known as the “Covered Electronic Devices Takeback Fund.” The fund is designed to be distributed in grants to counties and municipalities or other programs that divert covered electronic devices from the waste stream. The law was implemented on Jan. 1, 2009. West Virginia SB 398 was signed into law on March 20, 2010, prohibiting landfill disposal of computers, monitors and televisions as of Jan. 1, 2011.
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Wisconsin
Wisconsin SB 107 bill, the Electronic Recycling Bill, was signed into law in October, 2009, and went into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, banning landfilling and incineration of e-waste. Covered end-of-lifecycle electronics include desktop, laptop, netbook and tablet computers, monitors, printers, cell phones, video players and other related devices. The law also established a collection and recycling system for e-waste that requires manufacturers to register with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR); pay an annual registration fee of $5,000 and, if applicable, shortfall fees; and meet a target recycling goal of 80% of the weight of covered electronic devices sold three years prior to the program year. Sales include sales to households and K-12 public schools.
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E-waste and Environmental Regulations Database |
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Mounting pressures regarding the environmentally and socially responsible management of e-waste are triggering more stringent laws around the globe. Redemtech’s E-waste and Environmental Regulations Database delivers information about regulations, directives, national decrees, statutes, ordinances and pending e-waste and environmental legislation. |
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Legislation governing the protection of consumer privacy and identify theft continue to propagate on a global, federal, state and local level. Redemtech’s Data Security and Privacy Regulatory Database documents applicable regulations, established laws, constitutional amendments and pending legislation for many nations around the globe. |
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