Our Opinion: Put Trashed TVs Where They Belong

Duluth News Tribune

Something very close to that ideal may be on its way to Minnesota via a proposal under consideration by the Legislature to require electronics manufacturers to recycle the same amount of electronics products as they sell in the state.

Minnesota’s measure would be the toughest in the nation, as 26 states either have passed or are considering laws to recycle and take care of growing mountains of electronic waste, or “e-waste,” as discarded computers, keyboards, televisions and other products are sometimes called.

Already, the Gopher State is receiving deserved national attention for its proposal.

“I applaud Minnesota for taking an aggressive approach and a realistic approach that will make an actual dent in the problem,” Barbara Kyle told the News Tribune editorial page yesterday. She’s the coordinator of the Computer Take-Back Campaign, a national coalition based in San Jose, Calif.

At least one computer manufacturer, testifying in St. Paul, has stated that the state’s proposed requirement would be too high. “So high,” Heather Bowman of Hewlett Packard said, “we would not be able to meet our responsibility.”

That’s hard to believe. The volume of required recycling would be measured by weight rather than by numbers of items; and newer monitors, computers and other electronics are far lighter than their predecessors. Plus, the recycling wouldn’t be limited to cathode ray tube devices; fax machines, printers, remotes and other gadgets would count toward the weight requirement. And every pound of electronics recycled outside the 11-county Twin Cities metropolitan area would count as 1.5 pounds, the bill states.

Manufacturers in other states already are meeting requirements similar to what’s being discussed for Minnesota. Those states include Maine and Maryland, whose requirements are in effect; Washington, which passed an e-waste recycling plan but hasn’t yet implemented it; and California, whose approach is a little different: The state collects a fee at the point of purchase and then uses it to reimburse recyclers. Another 22 states are considering bills, “all slightly different from each other,” Kyle said. “We’re all learning from each other. [But the programs are] definitely working. [Manufacturers] are definitely complying.”

Minnesota’s measure builds on a state law that went into effect last summer, which prohibited the disposal of cathode ray tube devices in regular household trash because of their lead and mercury content. That law left many local governments “holding the bag,” as Rep. Brita Sailer, DFL-Park Rapids, said. Counties and cities lacked adequate recycling programs or facilities to handle the items.

The new law takes pressure off local governments by putting the onus on manufacturers to properly dispose of dead or dying electronics. How the manufacturers do that is up to them. Some may spearhead their own programs. Others may contract with recyclers or waste haulers. Still others may build on efforts already in place, including take-back days at retail outlets.

Whatever manufacturers come up with, they must do an excellent job of communicating it with consumers. In the Duluth area, most televisions and computer monitors can be legally tossed for the reasonable rate of $10, printers and fax machines for $5, VCRs for $1, and keyboards and other smaller gadgets for free at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District’s Materials Recovery Center on Rice Lake Road. Yet a recent survey found one in three Duluth-area households’ hoarded old electronics, stashing them in garages or basements, often because they’re not sure what to do with them. Others have been known to take care of their smashed TVs and broken monitors by tossing them out of a moving car.

And that’s a solution that’s far from ideal — certainly far less ideal than what Minnesota’s lawmakers are considering.In an ideal world, every time a new TV set or computer monitor was purchased, an old, junky one would be recycled — rather than being dumped from Skyline Parkway or tossed into a rural ditch or even forgotten in a basement.

Something very close to that ideal may be on its way to Minnesota via a proposal under consideration by the Legislature to require electronics manufacturers to recycle the same amount of electronics products as they sell in the state.

Minnesota’s measure would be the toughest in the nation, as 26 states either have passed or are considering laws to recycle and take care of growing mountains of electronic waste, or “e-waste,” as discarded computers, keyboards, televisions and other products are sometimes called.

Already, the Gopher State is receiving deserved national attention for its proposal.

“I applaud Minnesota for taking an aggressive approach and a realistic approach that will make an actual dent in the problem,” Barbara Kyle told the News Tribune editorial page yesterday. She’s the coordinator of the Computer Take-Back Campaign, a national coalition based in San Jose, Calif.

At least one computer manufacturer, testifying in St. Paul, has stated that the state’s proposed requirement would be too high. “So high,” Heather Bowman of Hewlett Packard said, “we would not be able to meet our responsibility.”

That’s hard to believe. The volume of required recycling would be measured by weight rather than by numbers of items; and newer monitors, computers and other electronics are far lighter than their predecessors. Plus, the recycling wouldn’t be limited to cathode ray tube devices; fax machines, printers, remotes and other gadgets would count toward the weight requirement. And every pound of electronics recycled outside the 11-county Twin Cities metropolitan area would count as 1.5 pounds, the bill states.

Manufacturers in other states already are meeting requirements similar to what’s being discussed for Minnesota. Those states include Maine and Maryland, whose requirements are in effect; Washington, which passed an e-waste recycling plan but hasn’t yet implemented it; and California, whose approach is a little different: The state collects a fee at the point of purchase and then uses it to reimburse recyclers. Another 22 states are considering bills, “all slightly different from each other,” Kyle said. “We’re all learning from each other. [But the programs are] definitely working. [Manufacturers] are definitely complying.”

Minnesota’s measure builds on a state law that went into effect last summer, which prohibited the disposal of cathode ray tube devices in regular household trash because of their lead and mercury content. That law left many local governments “holding the bag,” as Rep. Brita Sailer, DFL-Park Rapids, said. Counties and cities lacked adequate recycling programs or facilities to handle the items.

The new law takes pressure off local governments by putting the onus on manufacturers to properly dispose of dead or dying electronics. How the manufacturers do that is up to them. Some may spearhead their own programs. Others may contract with recyclers or waste haulers. Still others may build on efforts already in place, including take-back days at retail outlets.

Whatever manufacturers come up with, they must do an excellent job of communicating it with consumers. In the Duluth area, most televisions and computer monitors can be legally tossed for the reasonable rate of $10, printers and fax machines for $5, VCRs for $1, and keyboards and other smaller gadgets for free at the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District’s Materials Recovery Center on Rice Lake Road. Yet a recent survey found one in three Duluth-area households’ hoarded old electronics, stashing them in garages or basements, often because they’re not sure what to do with them. Others have been known to take care of their smashed TVs and broken monitors by tossing them out of a moving car.

And that’s a solution that’s far from ideal — certainly far less ideal than what Minnesota’s lawmakers are considering.