An Electronic Waste Recycling Fee is a fee imposed by government on new purchases of electronic products. The fees are used to pay for the future recycling of these products, as many contain

hazardous materials Dangerous goods, abbreviated DG, are substances that when transported are a risk to health, safety, property or the environment. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials ( syllabi ...

. Locations that have such fees include the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the US State of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and the province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada.

United States

In the United States, 17 states have laws regarding

electronics recycling Electronic waste or e-waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e-waste. Inform ...

. The non-profit National Center for Electronics Recycling calls it "patchwork of state regulations".

California

The Electronic Waste Recycling Fee is a fee imposed by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

of the state of

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on new purchases of

electronic product The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

s with viewable screens. It is one of the key elements of the

California Electronic Waste Recycling Act {{Unreferenced, date=May 2009 The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (2003 Cal ALS 526) (EWRA) is a California law to reduce the use of certain hazardous substances in certain electronic products sold in the state. The act was signed into law Se ...

. Retailers submit the collected fees to the Board of Equalization. Retailers may pay the fee on behalf of the consumer, however the retailer must remit the same amount to the State and indicate the amount on the consumer receipt. Retailers may retain 3% of the collected fees in order to recoup costs of collection. The fees collected reimburse a number of recycling centers, who in turn offer free recycling of e-waste to consumers and businesses. The statutory recycling fees are adjusted every one to two years by the state on or before August 1 of the year. Sellers and manufacturers are subject to civil fines for failing to collect and remit the fee. Fees are collected for the following CEDs (Covered Electronic Devices): *

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

s that contain

cathode ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms ( oscilloscope), pictu ...

liquid crystal display A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat panel display, flat-panel display or other Electro-optic modulator, electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liqui ...

s, or plasma screens. *

Computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

s that contain cathode ray tubes or use liquid crystal displays. *

Laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

computers and Portable DVD players with liquid crystal displays. *"Bare" cathode ray tubes or any other product that contains a cathode ray tube.

Washington

In Washington, a law passed in 2006 requires manufacturers to be responsible for recycling their products at the ends of their lifetimes. 212 manufacturers created an industry association for this purpose which charges manufacturers based on their market share and the amount of items being recycled.

Europe

In Europe, the

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) is the European Community Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which, together with the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, became European Law ...

requires member countries of the

to allow consumers to recycle electronics free of charge. This is funded by national "producer compliance schemes",Government, Northern Ireland http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/waste-home/regulation/regulations_weee/producers.htm EEE Producer Obligations into which manufacturers and distributors pay an annual fee for the collection and recycling of associated waste electronics from household waste recycling centres.

References

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External links