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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 23, 2017 04:29 PM |
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| From: | Representative Marty Flynn |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Legislation Amending the Covered Device Recycling Act |
| In the near future, I will be reintroducing legislation from last session (House Bill 2309) that would amend Act 108 of 2010, also known as the Covered Device Recycling Act, to require that manufacturers of electronics recycle more of these devices. As you may know, Act 108 established a mandatory manufacturer and retailer-based recycling program for covered devices, which include televisions, computer monitors, and laptop and desktop computers. Many of these products are manufactured with components that contain heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury, which pose a significant environmental risk if they are disposed of improperly. In recent years, community-based electronic recycling programs have become increasingly cost prohibitive and, in many cases, have stopped accepting covered devices or now charge a fee based on the total weight of an item. This has led to an increase of illegal dumping, most often along rural roadways. As a device degrades and is exposed to weather conditions, toxic substances sometimes leak out, contaminating the soil, surface waters, and ground water. Under Act 108, registered manufacturers of newly covered devices are required to recycle a specific amount of old covered devices based on the total weight (in pounds) of covered devices they produced during a year, multiplied by the manufacturer’s market share during the previous year. However, recently, a problem has developed with the current weight-based method used for the recycling of covered devices. Specifically, new covered devices, particularly televisions and computer monitors, weigh much less than older models. Therefore, a greater number of covered devices are entering the consumer market than are being recycled on a yearly basis. The legislation that I will be reintroducing would amend Act 108 to require that manufacturers recycle a quantity of covered devices on a graduated scale as follows:
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Introduced as HB1279