EIA proposes U.S. framework to regulate e-waste

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 5/25/2007

As environmental activist groups like Greenpeace serve as ever-louder public whistle-blowers on the problem of e-waste, the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) has released a consensus framework that it claimed paves the way for federal legislation establishing a national program for recycling household TVs and information technology (IT) products such as computers and computer monitors.

The framework, available at the group's Web site, calls for a two-part financing approach, separating TVs from desktop computers, laptops and computer monitors to reflect their divergent business models, market composition and consumer base. TV collection and recycling would be primarily conducted by an industry-sponsored third party organization and initially supported by a nominal fee paid by consumers at the point of purchase. The fee would eventually expire, once a significant number of so-called "legacy" sets are recovered.

Producers of IT equipment would implement a program to collect and recycle its products in a manner that is convenient for household consumers and at no cost to them. IT manufacturers would have to offer such a program as a condition of conducting business. Another provision calls for meeting the materials restrictions established by the European Union's Restriction on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive and a similar California statute.

The board of EIA's environmental issues council, which includes industry heavyweights such as HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Sharp, approved the plan, and EIA officials have delivered copies to the Bush Administration, Congress, state officials, industry stakeholders and environmental advocacy organizations.

In announcing the framework, the group said it hopes for the implementation of a single, standard set of directives for electronics recycling in the United States, similar to the European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)  regulation that went into force in March.

"We sincerely hope that other stakeholders will be motivated by the same spirit of compromise as we seek a uniform recycling program that our country wants and needs," Rick Goss, EIA's VP of environmental affairs, said in a statement. "Our companies design, manufacture and sell these products in the global marketplace and strongly support one consistent set of requirements."