House bill targets recycling electronics 
Financing of environmentally friendly program debated

By DIONNE DESIANO

THE OLYMPIAN 
Olmpia, Washington 
TheOlympian.com

Manufacturers and retailers debated Tuesday over who should foot the bill for a
program to recycle computers and TVs, and who should collect the electronics
products.

"It has been a struggle to find an environmentally safe solution and, after two
years of processes, we have arrived at an approach that works for consumers and
the environment, with shared accountability," said Mo McBroom, policy director
of the Washington Environmental Council.

Discarded electronics products overwhelm local dumps and release toxins into the
atmosphere, she said. House Bill 2662 would create a recycling and collection
program funded by manufacturers.

The big question for Washington is financing, McBroom said. There is a need for
convenient, free drop-off sites and programs to educate the public about the
recycling initiative.

The system that would be created by the bill is market-based, improves
efficiency for customers and drives prices down, Hewlett-Packard spokesman Larry
King said in supporting the bill. If manufacturers are held responsible, then
they will lower some costs in producing their products, he said.

The bill puts a disproportionate burden on manufacturers, said David Thompson of
Panasonic, who opposes the bill.

"How can we reach out to all of these people and form a recycling system? We
have the least experience in this area," Thompson said. "This is why retailers
should be responsible for collection."

Washington has no jurisdiction over international manufacturers whose products
are imported here, said Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce. "It's between a consumer and a
sales outlet, not the manufacturer."

The bill would require all out-of-state manufacturers to register with the state
Department of Ecology before they could sell products in Washington, said Janice
Gee of the Washington Retail Association.

In the end, it doesn't matter whether the manufacturer or retailer is charged
the recycling program fee because the consumer would end up paying for it either
way, she said.

Any fee must be taken up front, said Suellen Mele, program director of
Washington Citizens for Resource Conservation. People would just dump their
computers and TVs if it were an "end of life" fee, she said.

There are issues that need to be negotiated, said Rep. Brian Sullivan, D-
Mukilteo, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and a sponsor of the bill.
Would retailers be responsible for out-of-state manufacturers and who, in the
end, would pay?

Sullivan said he's confident the bill will move along, but there could be
amendments or revisions.

"This is something we have to fix; we have no choice," Sullivan said.

"This is a national problem, and we can't get Congress to deal with this unless
we pass our own legislation."


------------ House Bill 2662

The bill would require manufacturers of electronic products to register with the
Department of Ecology and pay for the collection, transportation and recycling
of electronic products by Jan. 1, 2009.

This bill would create the Electronic Products Recycling Account and allow
Ecology to create fees to recover the cost of registering manufacturers. A newly
created regulatory agency, the Washington Materials Management and Financing
Authority, would develop a recycling program for participating manufacturers.

The Department of Ecology must develop standards for electronics products and
retailers must ensure that each product has a label with the manufacturer's
brand name by July 1.