Dive Brief:

• A North Carolina bill that passed the state senate could remove electronics manufacturers’ responsibility to fund the recycling of electronics. Manufacturers of TVs, computers and other electronics would be off the hook in financially assisting the safe disposal of such waste, despite NC’s five-year-old state electronics recycling law.
• If it becomes law, HB 765 would repeal manufacturers' recycling fee requirements for discarded computer equipment and televisions, which totaled nearly $1 million in the last fiscal year. Even without manufacturer’s requirements to help recycle e-waste, such waste still will be prohibited from landfills.
• TV manufacturers currently pay North Carolina a $2,500 annual fee, and also must recycle a required amount of televisions, based upon how much of a national share the manufacturer has. Computer manufacturers pay $10,00 to $15,000 to start, plus annual fees ranging from $2,500 to $15,000. Fees depend partly upon how much recycling of products the manufacturer agrees to do.

Dive Insight:

Fees paid by electronics manufacturers often go to underwrite recycling efforts in a state, as is the case in North Carolina. Some of the state’s legislators think it’s wise to remove this burden on manufacturers as an incentive to do more business in the state. Yet, without financial support from computer and television manufacturers, local governments will need to divert money from other areas, or charge the public, for the recycling costs. 

“We are very concerned about this,” said Carolina Recycling Associatoin Executive Director Diane Davis. “The impact on local government could be just unreal.”