CE Industry Weighing Spectrum Money Set-Aside Bid
CE makers and retailers plan to ask Congress to allocate some funds from post-DTV transition spectrum sales to kickstart national e-waste recycling. E-waste recycling has “more of a link” to the transition than “other projects they are using that money for,” said CEA Environmental Counsel Parker Brugge. Industry believes Congress will allocate money only if packaged with a long-term e-waste recycling solution, he said.
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With a spectrum sale likely in 2009, “we would definitely need to move quickly,” Brugge said: “But it’s not too late.” Before approaching Congress, industry needs a “comprehensive” financing solution, he said. If there’s a correlation between the transition and more older TVs entering the waste stream, Congress should dedicate spectrum sale funds as seed money for a national e-waste recycling system, said Marc Pearl, exec. dir. of the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC). But any industry proposal has to figure in a comprehensive system that includes design for recycling, better management practices for recyclers and manufacturers’ responsibilities, he said: “It can’t be just, ‘Let’s jump-start it!’ and then in 2 years the seed money is gone and the program is gone.”
State and local govts. would back federal funding only if tied to a “long-term, sustainable resolution for electronics recycling,” said Scott Cassel, exec. dir. of the Products Stewardship Institute (PSI), which counsels state and local govts. on recycling. Though not a “horrible” idea, spending taxpayer money to subsidize collection isn’t necessary, said Sego Jackson, principal planner of Snohomish County, Wash. Instead, Congress should use the money to enhance the converter box coupon program, he said.
Even before they hit the market, converter boxes are beginning to rattle local and state environmental agencies. Congress should require that the boxes are nontoxic and ensure that a take-back system is in place before they start entering the waste stream, said Jackson. He expects a “huge flood” of the boxes 2-3 years after the transition, he said. States should include the boxes in e-waste legislation, said Cassel. States should consider setting up recycling programs before the boxes are sold and used, he added. But CEA’s Brugge said he doesn’t see the boxes posing a problem. “Manufacturers have all kinds of incentives to make products that use less materials of concern.”
Meanwhile, 22 states and Puerto Rico are considering e- waste legislation, many of the measures addressing CRTs. The DTV transition isn’t driving such legislation, said Brugge. More TVs may enter the waste stream after the transition, but it won’t be “noticeable,” he said: “There won’t be the tsunami of TVs that people talk about.” Industry groups split on financing e-waste recycling are nearer consensus than last year, he said: “But we are still a ways apart.” Several TV makers still want a fee-based system, but may be willing to compromise if it leads to a national system, he said. Brugge expects at least one and probably several states to pass legislation this year, he said. Among states inclined to do so are Minn., Ore. and some northeastern states pondering bills reflecting model legislation developed by the Northeast Recycling Council, he said.
No state e-waste bill links the DTV transition and more junk TVs, said CERC’s Pearl. That could be because of low awareness about what’s happening or the conversion deadline, he added. But he expects more bills to address the issue in 2008 as awareness increases, he said. Industry claims to the contrary, “I think that there is going to be an absolute flood of televisions looking for some place to land,” said Jackson. It will be “too late” for states that don’t pass laws this year to handle the “beginning of that onslaught,” he said, noting that Wash.’s system will be up in Jan. 2009.