All those new gizmos and gadgets gleefully pulled from beneath the Christmas
tree are about to spur a high tide of household waste as piles of old gizmos and
gadgets are discarded.
By the time you dump in the usual remains of the holidays -- the packaging,
wrapping paper, ribbons, stale fruitcakes and turkey carcasses -- daily
household waste increases by more than 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New
Year's Day, state pollution control officials say.
Comment: Washington state has a new law effective January 1 which requires manufacturers of electronic items to accept and pay for recyling. Most large cities have a couple of designated sites where consumers can drop off tv's, phones, DVD players, etc at no charge.
The law, passed a few years ago makes the manufacturers financially responsible. I'm sure that they have used this lead-in time to adjust the price of their products to cover the cost of recycling.
Only time will tell if this method is successful. Whichever method is chosen for an area, the final cost will ultimately be borne by the consumer.Washington state has a new law effective January 1 which requires manufacturers of electronic items to accept and pay for recyling. Most large cities have a couple of designated sites where consumers can drop off tv's, phones, DVD players, etc at no charge.
The law, passed a few years ago makes the manufacturers financially responsible. I'm sure that they have used this lead-in time to adjust the price of their products to cover the cost of recycling.
Only time will tell if this method is successful. Whichever method is chosen for an area, the final cost will ultimately be borne by the consumer.
The typical American home contains 24 consumer electronic products, the
latest
statistics
show: Televisions, computers, cell phones, digital cameras, game
consoles, plus all their beeping cousins.
Holiday gift-giving doesn't just widen the stream of gadgets and gizmos. It
makes orphans of the old stuff.
Got a great deal on an LCD television for Christmas? Upgraded to a faster PC?
Unwrapped a Blu-ray to replace that standard DVD player?
Each item likely displaces another, leaving behind a heap of electro-rubble.
Last year, Americans shoved aside an estimated 27 million outdated or
unwanted televisions, and 205 million computers and chunks of related hardware
(printers, mice, etc.), according to the Environmental Protection Agency. We
crammed most of this e-waste inside a million basements, or stuffed it in the
trash.
Scott County's electronic demanufacturing facility hopes holiday digital TV
purchases will translate to analog TVs being recycled.
To encourage
e-waste recycling, Scott County residents can drop off electronic waste at no
charge from now until Feb. 27 at Waste Commission of Scott County, 1048 E. 59th
St., Davenport.
In 2007, more than 15,000 pounds of e-waste -- anything
with a circuit board or cathode ray tube -- was recycled between Thanksgiving
and Jan. 4, said Erin Robinson, communications coordinator. Officials anticipate
even more as many residents replace analog TVs to coincide with broadcasters'
switch to digital broadcasting.
However, all e-waste is accepted.
Computers, monitors, videocassette recorders, DVD players, stereos, cell phones,
cameras, printers and scanners are included.
When the waste commission
opened its e-waste facility in 2005, 560,000 pounds of materials were recycled.
In 2007, the amount of material recycled jumped to 1.1 million pounds. Recycling
e-waste saves space at the Scott County landfill and prevents toxic materials
from entering it.
Illinois e-waste legislation that requires manufacturers to establish facilities to accept e-waste from consumers. The law is on a rolling basis and over the next few years the recycling requirements will kick in and by 2012, disposal of certain e-waste in municipal waste and sanitary landfills and at incinerators will be prohibited. The E-Waste Act only applies to electronic equipment taken out of use from residences, but it affects many of the businesses involved in the stream of electronic commerce. There is a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each day of violation. Devices covered in the legislation include computers, cell phones, televisions, PDAs, printers, fax machines, game consoles, VCRs, DVD players, iPods and others (calculators and typewriters are NOT included).