Maine Manufacturers are Forced to Pay Recycling Costs
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 02.10.06
A few weeks back, a law went into effect in Maine to force manufacturers of televisions and computer monitors to pay for and handle the recycling of their own outdated equipment. The long-term goal of this new law is to give manufacturers an economic incentive to design less-toxic and easier-to-recycle products. European governments and Japan have been requiring manufacturers to pay for their recycling for some time now and in the U.S. electronic waste is a growing concern. Recycling costs are usually the responsibility of the taxpayer and Maine is the first state in the U.S. with this kind of mandate. Historically, the federal government has been reluctant to throw the costs of recycling back to manufacturers but analysts are thinking that a few other states may follow soon. California has a similar program, but there is an up-front disposal fee that is collected at the store when products are purchased and then the store distributes the money to pay recycling costs. With each computer monitor and television set containing about five pounds of potentially dangerous heavy metals as well as toxic chemicals, we’re hoping that the other states follow Maine – we like their idea better. Via ::E Magazine
hey maybe this will encourage them to produce more repairable and upgradable items and less throw away items. I dunno though our manufactoring economy is already going down the tubes !!!FAST!!! I think this will probably just make foreign manufactoring even more appealing :(
As an exile, I romantically believe that Maine is the best state in the union. Glad to see the government is also showing itself to be as progressive as it can.