Take Back My TV
Sign Up for Email Alerts
Massachusetts Considering Bill To Make Manufacturers Responsible For E-Waste
Posted on May 19, 2009Like many other states, Massachusetts has faced an increasing tide of electronics waste in recent years. The amount of waste discarded has reached such a point, in fact, that state lawmakers are paying increasing attention to a bill that would make manufacturers - not local communities - responsible for recycling old televisions, computer monitors and other devices.
And the bill couldn't have come too soon. According to the Boston Globe:
Massachusetts cities and towns collectively spend an estimated $2 million to $4 million dollars a year on electronic waste collection and disposal, said Greg Cooper, recycling director for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Bay State residents and businesses discard 300,000 tons of cathode-ray tube monitors and televisions a year, officials say. Each cathode-ray tube television or computer monitor contains, on average, four to five pounds of lead and trace amounts of other toxic metals that can also leach into groundwater - which is why Massachusetts banned them from landfills and incinerators in 2000. [Boston Globe, 5/14/09]
Seventeen other states already have similar legislation and several others are considering it. Finally, Massachusetts lawmakers are catching onto the fact that e-waste harms not only Bay State communities that pay thousands each year to dispose of it, but also the developing countries where it often ends up. It's time for Massachusetts to join the rest of the country in holding companies accountable for the waste they generate.
Press Coverage
A Program to Certify Electronic Waste Recycling Rivals an Industry-U.S. Plan
New York Times04-15-10 -- In addition to outlining safe domestic handling and disposal practices for old televisions, computers and other electronic devices, the system would effectively bar participating recyclers from exporting toxic, nonfunctional electronic waste to developing nations. The program will compete directly with a less stringent standard recently developed by industry and the federal government that companies and recyclers say makes more economic sense.
Electronics Recycling - Who’s Responsible?
Recycling Today12-29-09 -- As the lawsuit challenging New York City’s electronics take-back law prepares for opening arguments in mid-January, industry associations and electronics recycling advocates wonder what effect the court’s ruling will have on the future of producer responsibility.
A Green Way to Dump Low-Tech Electronics
The New York Times06-30-09 -- The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 99.1 million televisions sit unused in closets and basements across the country. Consumer response to recycling has been enormous in states where the laws have taken effect.
