Provides for the recycling of certain electronic equipment and provides for extended producer responsibility

§2. Adds a new title 26 to Article 27 of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) to provide for electronic equipment recycling. Significant provisions include: * Covered Electronic devices would include: desktop or laptop computers, computer monitors, portable computers, cathode ray tubes or flatpanel based televisions (with a screen size greater than 4 inches), fax machines, DVD players, printers, and video cassette recorders.

* Starting June 1st, 2010, manufacturers of Video Display Devices (VDDs) for sale to will be responsible for registering, paying a fee, and recycling electronic waste. To meet their recycling goals, they can work with any of the recyclers serving the State. Parties involved in the law would register and report their activities, including collectors, recyclers, and manufacturers of e-waste.

* Recycling targets are based on each manufacturer's current sales of video display devices, not a share of legacy products collected as waste. The first year target of 30% of the weight of VDDs sold rises to 60%, in the second year, and 75% in the fourth and future years. Penalties for failing to meet recycling goals are assessed as an increase in registration fees for the next year.

* "Manufacturers have flexibility to create a recycling system that best meets their needs. Many different approaches have emerged.

§3. Adds a new section 71-2729 to the ECL to provide that a manufacturer who violates any requirement of title 26 of article 27 of the ECL must first receive a written warning from the department including a copy of the requirements and thirty days to correct the violation. After thirty days, such manufacturer may be assessed a penalty of up to one thousand dollars for the first violation and up to two thousand dollars for the second and each subsequent violation.

§4. Adds a new section 92-t to the State Finance Law to provide for a new "Electronic waste recycling fund." This fund shall consist of all moneys collected pursuant to title twenty-six of article twenty-seven of the environmental conservation law.

§5. Provides the effective date.

Existing law

Currently, there is no provision in law relating to producer responsibility for electronic waste.

Justification

Currently seventeen other States have some version of an electronics waste recycling or extended consumer responsibility statute. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is based on the "polluter pays" principle, entails making manufacturers responsible for the entire life cycle of the products and packaging they produce. One aim of EPR policies is to internalize the environmental costs of products into their price. Another is to shift the economic burden of managing products that have reached the end of their useful life from local government and taxpayers to product producers and consumers.

EPR initiatives include product take-back programs, deposit refund systems, product fees and taxes, and minimum recycled content laws. EPR puts the onus upon the manufacturer and to many, represents a mandatory approach. A related approach, Product Stewardship, is gaining in popularity because of its less regulatory nature and its recognition that other parties have a role to play.

Product stewardship means that all parties involved in the design, manufacture, sales, and use of a product take responsibility for environmental impacts at every stage of that product's life.

Americans throw out just as much trash as 20 years ago. We recycle a lot more, but recycling alone is not enough. Overuse of resources is not sustainable-- it is wasteful! Also, it is costly to manage wastes safely, especially products that contain hazardous or toxic substances. (In California these costs may be on the order of half a billion dollars annually.) Local governments need relief from these costs.

The EPR approach calls for product producers to ensure safe management of products they produce. This change sends economic signals to the producers and provides an incentive for producers to find more economically viable methods of production that lead to fewer hazardous or toxic substances and less overall waste. Right now, for most products, there is not an economic link between production and waste management costs, and until that link is made through EPR, product producers have little incentive to change product and packaging design.

In short, EPR can help fix an environmental problem and provide a more equitable distribution of costs. EPR can encourage green design and reductions in disposal, toxic releases and emissions of climate change gases in order to improve human health and our environment.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

There will be some administrative costs to DEC, but those costs will be covered by the electronics manufacturers registration fee.

Local fiscal implications

Electronic waste is the largest growing component of the solid waste stream. It is cumbersome and expensive to manage. This bill will assist local governments by relieving them of the responsibility to collect and handle electronic waste. Municipal recycling programs will achieve savings as a result of both reduced and avoided costs.

Effective date

January 1, 2010, with exceptions.