Electronics recycling, which includes anything from computer monitors and televisions to cell phones and VCRs continues to be the hot topic in the recycling industry. On a local and national level, electronics programs are getting started and getting better.

In early March U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jim Talent (R-MO) introduced legislation that would give consumers and industry tax incentives to safely dispose of old or outdated personal or office electronics. The Electronic Waste Recycling and Promotion and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 would provide incentives to create the first-ever nationwide electronic waste recycling infrastructure, making it more convenient and cost-effective for American consumers to recycle computers, computer monitors, laptop computers and televisions. The proposed legislation also directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of various e-waste recycling programs to recommend a national program.

Specifically, the Wyden-Talent e-waste recycling bill would:

• Establish an $8 per unit tax credit for companies that recycle at least 5,000 display screens or computer system units per year.
• Establish a $15 tax credit for consumers who recycle their old computers and TVs, provided they use qualified recyclers.
• Prohibit the disposal of any electronic equipment containing a display screen greater than four inches or any computer system unit in a municipal solid waste landfill, beginning three years after the bill is passed. This provision is contingent upon the EPA Administrator finding that a majority of U.S. households have reasonable access to e-waste recycling.
• Modify the EPA's Universal Waste Rule to classify display screens and system units as "universal wastes" to allow for easier collection, processing, transportation and recycling.
• Require federal executive agencies to ensure that every display screen or system unit procured by the government is recovered and recycled.
• Direct the EPA Administrator to study and make recommendations to Congress on the feasibility of establishing a nationwide recycling program that would preempt any state plan, within one year.

Read the full text of the bill (PDF)
 

On March 19, 2004 the City of Richmond and Central Virginia Waste Management Authority held an electronics collection event at the Science Museum of Virginia. Over three thousand pounds of electronics were collected from forty-two cars that stopped by the event. Another collection day will be held in Hanover on April 30, 2005. For more information on this event, or how to recycle electronics 5 days a week, visit our website.

Motorola hopes to collect 1 million used mobile phones through a fund-raising program that will help schools raise money for scholastic and extracurricular activities. The "Race to Recycle" program will pay accredited K-12 U.S. schools $3 per intact phone, up to a maximum of $21,000 for each school year. Motorola will take back phones from any manufacturer. The rollout of the program follows a successful pilot program started in March 2004.

Motorola's goal is to collect 1 million used cell phones by the end of the 2004-2005 school year.

More information is available at Motorola's website. Or, residents of central Virginia can also recycle cell phones at many trash convenience centers. Revenue earned for collected phones goes back to your city or county.