E-Cycling Gets Free and Easier in Washington

Whenever I hear “E-Cycling,” I think of some amazing new technology that allows you to shoot your old trash and junk over to the recycling plant by means of e-mail. Of course, it isn’t — “E-Cycling” is simply the term used for recycling and managing potentially hazardous electronic waste, and, thanks to a new state law passed in Washington, managing that waste is about to become a whole lot more pleasant.

Do you have an old TV, laptop or monitor? Now you can easily recycle it for free, thanks to a new state law.

The E-Cycle Washington program requires manufacturers to provide recycling services for TVs, desktop computers, laptop computers and monitors at no cost to residents, nonprofits, small businesses, schools and local governments.

Normally, the onus of proper electronics disposal is left to the consumers, who are often uneducated on the subject and are thrown into a disarray of confusion and inconvenience. This step by Washington government could prove vital in curbing misplacement and careless abandonment of e-waste, an incredibly important step considering that e-waste is a very dangerous thing.

Certain components of some electronic products contain materials that render them hazardous, depending on their condition and density. For instance, California law currently views nonfunctioning CRTs (cathode ray tubes) from televisions and monitor as hazardous.

[...]

In addition, some researchers estimate that nearly 75 percent of old electronics are in storage, in part because of the uncertainty of how to manage the materials. Combine this with increasing advances in technology and new products headed towards the market and it is no wonder that “e-waste” is a popular topic.

The law isn’t foolproof — it does not currently address the issue of smaller electronics like MP3 players, DVD and CD players, printers, scanners, or cell phones to name just a few — but hopefully these issues will be addressed in the near future. Even more importantly, if this law goes over well perhaps its influence will spread to nearby (and even not-so-nearby) states. It seems small, but the impact of this law on the environment could be massive.

Photo via Flickr!

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 10:48 am and is filed under Happenings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.