ARLINGTON, Va.—Nearly two years after a public roundtable on electronics waste policy, the U.S. Technology Administration has issued a report on e-waste policy issues. The Information Technology Association of America immediately touted the report’s role in illuminating the challenges to establishing a national recycling program, but did not take the opportunity to express a position on those challenges.
The USTA report estimates that 400 million electronic devices are scrapped each year; that’s three billion by the end of the decade.
While the ITAA “applauded” the USTA report, the report said that stakeholders who participated in the roundtable and contributed comments agreed that a uniform national system of electronics recycling is preferable to a patchwork of state laws—but stakeholders could not agree on how to pay for a national system. Stakeholders include manufacturers, retailers, recyclers and environmental organizations.
The report referred to the mobile phone industry’s input on the Technology Administration’s e-waste initiative, without taking a postion on a major wireless recommendation.
“CTIA-The Wireless Association argued in its comments that mobile phones and devices are different from other electronics and, given that the cellular industry started a voluntary national recycling effort in 2003, it would like a definitive federal endorsement of a voluntary national recycling program for its industry,” the report stated.
According to the USTA report, the current patchwork of international and state laws affects the finances of both U.S. electronics manufacturers and retailers.
Ten countries have passed laws governing the recycling of e-waste and, in the United States, five states ban the disposal of cathode ray tubes in television and computer monitors in landfills. A California e-waste law that applies to electronic devices with screens four inches or bigger faces a possible legislative amendment to include cellular phones. Meanwhile, according to the USTA report, states are experimenting with financing systems that range from an “advanced recovery fee” paid by consumers at point-of-purchase, to “producer responsibility” rules that, in the case of television and computer monitors, require manufacturers to pay for recycling.
The USTA report summarizes stakeholders’ viewpoints, provides an overview of recycling options and analyzes common models for financing a national recycling program.
