Tuesday, January 19, 2010

E-Waste recycling idea for states to implement

If you REALLY want people to recycle e-waste then the NY GOVERNMENT (or ANY) should pass a very simple law: every item purchased you must pay $100 recycling fee (PC, monitor, Scanner, printer etc, anything over $100 in value) and be given a certificate of recycling at point of purchase with their name, date, point of purchase info SN of item etc on the certificate and the company passes that $100 to the state (less a $1 processing fee). Then, when you turn that item back in, you get the $100 back. This put the burden on the END USER of the item to dispose of it to authorized e-waste collection companies - not the producer who has NO control if the person want to throw it away. Now it is in the users interest to turn it back in and get back their money. The collection companies verify the certificate and get to keep the equipment to make their money, the state gives the company that $100 back for every certificate they collect - and since the state got the $99 up front  for YEARS when the person bought it the state makes money off the interest and thus that would pay for the cost of the UPC encoded certificate and processing EASILY - with extra $ for the state to waste on other feel good programs. Make it as simple as possible, make end user feel the pain if they fail to get rid of it, then people would do it. And of course the certificate goes with the equipment so if people sell it to other people it goes with the equipment.