U.S. Water News Online
TRENTON, N.J. -- The average American home owns about 26 different types of consumer electronic products and has nearly three television sets.
But with the electronic innovations of today becoming obsolete tomorrow, New Jersey and other states are considering whether to make plopping that old television on the curb on trash day illegal.
Rather, electronics products would have to be recycled, much like old cardboard boxes and empty cans.
"Many people don't realize their televisions, computers and even their cell phones are veritable compendiums of the periodic table,"said New Jersey Assemblyman Reed Gusciora.
California, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington are among states with consumer electronic recycling laws, while about 20 others are considering similar moves.
Supporters argue the programs prevent contaminants such as cadmium, lead and mercury from seeping into groundwater and being emitted into the air.
But the electronics industry contends laws forcing them to fund the recycling boosts consumer prices and hurts domestic companies.
"It places us at a competitive disadvantage,"said David Thompson, Panasonic's corporate environmental director.
The Environmental Protection Agency considers electronic waste the fastest growing piece of the nation's trash stream. Specifically, it defines electronic waste as televisions and computer monitors, computers, audio equipment, VCRs and DVD players, video cameras, telephones, cellular phones, fax and copy machines and video game consoles.
At issue are two approaches, both being debated in New Jersey, home to several major electronics manufacturers, including JVC, Panasonic, Phillips, RCA and Sharp.
Gusciora, D-Mercer, wants to force manufacturers to pay for the program by charging them $5,000 per year, modeling it after Maine's law. Democratic New York Assemblyman William Colton and Republican Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Ross said they're pushing similar plans in their states.
"We plan on moving forward with these bills this year,"Colton said.
Gusciora said making manufacturers responsible for cost will force companies to make better products and the extra cost can be included into product prices, but Ric Erdheim, senior counsel for Philips Electronics North America Corporation, said American companies face competition from foreign manufacturers and retailers that sell items at cheaper rates.
"So the reality is, we can't pass the prices on,"Erdheim said.
New Jersey state Sen. Bob Smith prefers California's model and proposed charging consumers $10 when they purchase electronics items to fund the program. California charges consumers fees ranging from $6 to $10, depending on the product's size.
Smith, D-Middlesex, said New Jersey throws away 2 million televisions and 400,000 computer monitors per year.
"We really need to get a handle on the problem and solve it,"Smith said.
But Rona Cohen, an environmental analyst with the Council of State Governments, said the group's East and Midwest regions decided during a recent conference to support putting the onus on manufacturers, deeming a consumer fee akin to a tax.
Shirley Willd-Wagner, who manages California's electronic waste program, which was the nation's first, said 2.6 million electronics were collected for recycling last year and the program has helped create jobs and business opportunities.
She said California decided to pay for the program by charging consumers when they buy electronics to take the cost burden off local governments and ensure consumers wouldn't have to pay when getting rid of products.
"We haven't heard that many complaints,"she said, though she noted some incorrectly think they've paid a deposit redeemable when they recycle the product.
Gusciora's bill doesn't specify penalties for residents violating the law, while Smith's bill permits fines ranging from $500 to $1,000.
Six months after Minnesota banned televisions and computer monitors from landfills, it started finding them in rivers, ditches, woods and trash bins.
California has places where consumers take old electronics, while Maine has towns collect the products.
Frank Morella, of Sharp Electronics, said California's law is the best and described measures that put the onus on manufacturers as an "anti-industry recycling laws.''
New Jersey wants its Department of Environmental Protection to work with manufacturers to devise a collection plan.
Thompson said the industry is already dealing with environmental concerns, citing how Panasonic puts recycled glass into televisions and was the first to make televisions without mercury, cadmium and lead.
"We are addressing concerns that people have about electronics,"he said.
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