With聽the evolution of electronic devices, most households across the state聽have equipment that was once innovative but has quickly become聽antiquated and painfully slow. Disposing of those antiquated devices is not always an easy task, but some聽government and recycling 聽officials are hoping that will change.
“Some counties have programs, and some don’t. There is really no statewide program, which this legislation would require.聽We want to try to make electronic recycling聽uniform around the state, ” said state Sen. Christopher 鈥淜ip鈥� Bateman, R-16th District, who along with Sen. Bob Smith, D-17th District, sponsored聽Senate Bill 981聽that calls for revisions to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act. The bill passed the Senate in March. An identical bill,聽No. 4763,聽聽is in the Assembly.
“There’s a great deal of electronic waste in the street and in the woods,” Bateman said. “The proposed legislation would require the manufacturers to basically recycle their market share in weight.” Bateman said the bill has been around a couple of sessions. Last session, he said,聽the governor pocket vetoed the bill. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Electronic Waste Recycling Act,聽which聽took effect in 2011.聽requires manufacturers to set up a free and convenient system for collection of “covered”聽electronics 鈥斅燭Vs, computers, monitors, laptops and e-readers.
Read the full story at .