Free e-waste recycling bill on its way to governor

The Register-Guard, Wednesday, May 30, 2007

SALEM - Some day soon, Oregonians will be able to haul those broken TV sets and obsolete computers out of closets, garages and basements and have them recycled - for free - thanks to a bill sent Tuesday to the governor's desk for his signature.

House Bill 2626 directs the State Department of Environmental Quality to charge fees to manufacturers and establish free, "e-waste" recycling throughout the state.

Once the law goes into effect at the start of 2009, recycling TVs, computers, monitors and peripherals such as keyboards and hard drives will be made easier and without a cost to consumers, small businesses and nonprofit organizations with up to seven such items to get rid of. The e-waste program established by HB 2626 would shift the costs to manufacturers - an arrangement agreed to by the lobbyists representing the computer and electronics sectors.

Lorraine Kerwood, who founded the reuse and recycle program, Next Step, in Eugene, said she was optimistic that those who come in and pay to have their unwanted electronic items recycled will have a lot of company once the new bill is in effect.

"My hope is that those folks that are already doing the right thing will be even more encouraged and will be able to get even more of their neighbors and friends to do this," she said.

Environmentalists and like-minded lawmakers have for years sought to keep electronic devices out of landfills. This is because items such as computers, keyboards and other peripherals contain toxic metals in their circuit boards.

A television picture tube, for example, contains five to 10 pounds of lead powder, which can escape and enter the air or groundwater, said Sarah Grimm, waste reduction specialist with the Lane County Solid Waste Management Division.

"Making it free to consumers is what's really going to achieve our reduction of lead in the waste stream in the future," she said.

Currently, those in Lane County with unwanted electronics can throw them out - although this can carry a cost at a transfer station or curbside.

Those who recycle pay a fee, such as Lane County's $20 for a TV with a screen larger than 30 inches or Next Step's $15 per computer monitor.

Under HB 2626, a $500 fine would be charged to those who dispose of or accept for disposal items covered by the bill.

Once the law is in effect, consumers could leave their discarded electronics with DEQ-approved recyclers without a charge. The recycling entities would instead be paid with the manufacturer fees collected by the state.

Sen. Frank Morse, an Albany Republican who carried the bill on the Senate floor Tuesday, said consumers' reluctance to pay recycling fees and their lack of knowledge about where to take old computers and TVs are among the reasons the state estimates that 7,500 tons of electronic waste was stored in people's homes in 2003.

Morse had lots of company in supporting the bill. It passed 30-0 after collecting the House's 58-0 endorsement.

The bill's champion, Rep. Jackie Dingfelder, D-Portland, said she hopes to continue working on the e-waste issue next session by expanding the list of covered items to include such things as printers and scanners.

She said this session's overwhelming support for the bill belied its difficult journey to Gov. Ted Kulongoski's desk. She started working on the issue in 2003. That first year, she was able to get only agreement to form a task force to study the issue. In 2005, legislation failed to pass, leading to a work group of various stakeholders that recommended the version that became HB 2626.

Dingfelder said one of the biggest sticking points before this session was how to pay for the e-waste recycling. Some factions, such as TV makers, pushed for a consumer-fee model, while others, including personal computer makers, preferred the manufacturer fee approach - which prevailed.

It came out as a compromise, with TV makers paying based on the percentage of sets they sell and computer companies paying based on the number of products they made that end up being recycled.

Given that all the factions involved in the issue came to agree with the Oregon Legislature's approach, Dingfelder said she was encouraged that other states may follow suit.

"We're going to serve as a national model," she said.