Legislation seeks to establish e-waste recycling task force

Legislation recently introduced in the state House would establish the Manufacturer E-waste Program and the Advisory Electronics Recycling Task Force.

The bill would utilize best practices implemented in other states to make the e-waste recycling law more effective. It was introduced by state Rep. Mike Zabel (D-Delaware) and has approximately 50 bipartisan cosponsors.

The state’s e-waste program is underfunded and failing, Zabel said. The program determines costs based on the weight of devices previously sold, but newer devices weigh less, meaning manufacturers are required to recycle fewer old devices.

As a consequence, there has been an increase in illegal dumping.

“E-waste is the fastest growing portion of the municipal waste stream,” Zabel said. “While it represents only 2 percent of America’s trash in landfills, it represents 70 percent of the toxicity in the waste stream. Properly recycling e-waste would not only reduce negative environmental impacts, but it would add value to our economy.”

Recycling 1 million laptops saves the equivalent of more than 3,500 homes’ electricity usage annually, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For every cell phone recycled, 33 pounds of palladium, 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, and 35,000 pounds of copper, can be recovered, according to the agency.