Time that Electronics Manufacturers Step Up to the Plate and Take Responsibility for their Products
Currently, the legislature is considering A-4763, New Jersey Electronic Waste Management Act. The bill would update the original EWMA and make it more functional in today’s post consumer recycling market.
In brief, the current law is outdated and cannot keep up with changes in technology. What was once a valuable commodity (TV glass from old CRT TV’s) is now costly to properly dispose of as a material. A-4763 would make the manufacturers more clearly responsible for the cost of recycling electronics and tighten loopholes in the current law.
Unfortunately, the electronics manufacturers oppose taking responsibility for their products. Rather than incur the cost of recycling as required in the current law, they are foisting the cost of the recycling programs on towns and counties who have run recycling programs for several years.
Worse still, they have made public claims that are patently untrue…such as “there are many convenient locations for the recycling of electronics.” In fact, that is not true at all. And, although required to be free by law, some stores charge for certain TV’s…and some limit the size of what can be brought in.
Even worse is the fact that many of the free locations are municipal or county locations run by local governments. In other words, the way that the manufacturers are meeting their obligation is by relying on taxpayer dollars to run the free programs….ie…CORPORATE WELFARE.
It is time to stop this and to pass A-4763.
