E-scrap bills move forward
Electronics recycling continued to be a hot topic as legislatures across the country took up new recycling bills.
In Mississippi, a new law creates a directory of certified electronics recycling firms. Senate Bill 2754 aggregates available data to create a registry of e-scrap processors certified to either the Responsible Recycling (R2) or e-Stewards standards and, effective July 1, directs all state agencies to manage their end-of-life electronic assets exclusively through processors on that list. Mississippi is not one of the 25 states with a statewide electronics recycling program on the books.
In California, an attempt to update the state’s e-scrap program has passed the Assembly and is awaiting a committee assignment in the Senate. Assembly Bill 1022 requires CalRecycle to make CRT glass market development payments to a manufacturer or an e-scrap processor who uses CRT glass to manufacture a product in this state. The bill would only last for a limited duration, although the exact time frame is unspecified. Additionally, AB 1022 would authorize the expenditure of up to $10 million annually for the purpose of making those market development payments.
A bill in Oregon is tackling some of the data security challenges associated with electronics recycling. House Bill 2429 would require public agencies develop and implement policies for securely removing personal information from digital data storage devices and other electronic data storage devices before selling, donating, recycling or sending the assets through the end-of-life management stream.
Source: Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling