By Miguel Bustillo
Times Staff Writer
July 6, 2003
A campaign to make California the first state to require recycling of old
computer monitors and televisions is beginning to win the tentative backing of
the nation's biggest electronics manufacturers, raising the likelihood that it
will result in a new state law this year.
Gov. Gray Davis vetoed similar legislation last year amid widespread opposition
from computer makers and television manufacturers who said the industry was
already developing programs to collect and clean up the mountains of unwanted
electronic equipment piling up all over the globe.
But many of those same companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic and IBM,
now say they are willing to support a state law, conceding that the industry
effort to establish a national standard is years away and that government may
need to play a leading role.
Meanwhile, the California Environmental Protection Agency recently released a
sweeping proposal of its own to tackle the "e-waste" problem, leading
environmentalists and industry representatives alike to conclude that the Davis
administration is serious about supporting legislation this time around. The
state's approach could serve as a model for the entire country.
"There seems to be a growing sense among the people in industry that
something is going to happen on this issue, and they want it to be something
they can live with," said Cal/EPA Secretary Winston H. Hickox.
With many consumers replacing televisions, computers and telephones every
couple of years to keep up with the latest technologies, electronic detritus
has become a common byproduct of the information age. More than 4.3 million
tons of consumer electronics and appliances were discarded in 1999 alone,
according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Much of it contains potentially hazardous toxic materials and needs to be
recycled or disposed of safely, say environmentalists and government officials.
But the sheer magnitude of the problem has taken cities and states by surprise,
and the electronics industry has only recently begun to launch programs to
collect old products.
Californians have an estimated 6 million old computer monitors and TVs
gathering dust in their homes, according to a report by the state's waste
board. The state has banned the monitors and televisions from municipal dumps,
requiring that they be treated as hazardous waste, because most contain 4 to 6
pounds of lead apiece.
The state, however, has yet to implement an alternative program for disposing
of the electronic junk, and cities and counties across California are complaining
that they are unfairly footing the costs of cleanup. Illegal dumping has become
widespread as residents and businesses seek to avoid the fees sometimes imposed
by local agencies to collect computer waste. Long Beach officials, for example,
recently discovered nearly 10 tons of electronics dumped in a vacant lot.
Complicating matters, a home-grown computer recycling industry has been slow to
develop. Much of the electronic waste is illegally exported to developing
countries, where the computers are crudely dismantled and scavenged for parts,
contaminating the water and soil of entire villages, according to government
officials and environmental activists.
For the second straight year, legislation by state Sen. Byron Sher (D-Stanford)
seeks to require recycling of all computers and televisions sold in California
in an environmentally safe manner that is approved by the government.
Companies that do not meet the requirement would not be able to sell their
products in California. All firms would have to meet a set of targets for
clearing out the stockpiles of obsolete computers and TVs by 2007 and
completely ending illegal disposal of the electronic waste by 2010, according
to the latest version of the bill.
Most industry groups agree that the government is probably best suited to
collect the heaps of computers and televisions, considering its existing
networks to pick up garbage. To finance the collection, the bill, SB 20, would
tack a fee at the point of sale onto new electronics. The numbers are still being
worked out, but preliminary estimates range from $5 per computer to $10 for TVs
larger than 35 inches.
Sher's legislation would require manufacturers to run their own take-back
programs to dispose of the waste.
That satisfies California-based Hewlett-Packard, which has hired union laborers
and opened a recycling center in Roseville, near Sacramento, to dismantle its
old computers. That facility and another one in Tennessee handle 3 million
pounds of used electronics a month, according to the company. But
Hewlett-Packard believes that it should not have a collection fee imposed on
buyers of its computers if it pays the brunt of recycling costs.
"It's not like we are just making an empty gesture; we are stepping up in
a major way," said David Isaacs, the company's director of global public
policy. "Clearly, there are costs, but we think that numerous entities,
including consumers, are going to have to share the burden."
Meanwhile, a coalition led by IBM that includes television makers Sony,
Panasonic and Toshiba would prefer to pay the government a fee to conduct all
the work, including the recycling.
In response, Sher seeks to allow for both options, with manufacturers being
able to choose between running their own state-monitored recycling networks or
paying to participate in a state-run recycling program.
The measure has already cleared the state Senate and is now in the Assembly.
"There are some different [industry] camps, but none of them are saying
no. At this point, the devil is more in the details," said Assemblywoman
Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), the head of the Assembly Environmental
Safety Committee, which is scheduled to discuss the bill Monday.
"I don't want to fool anybody that we have it solved," she said.
"There's still some serious issues, but we should be able to get a bill
[passed] this year that, if nothing else, sets the basic framework."