Quick thoughts & Updates on Federal e-waste Laws

With everything we're hearing about the debt ceiling, taxes (or lack thereof),  and the bad economy, it seems unlikely Congress will get around to discussing the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act before its session ends in August.  Granted, solving the issue of the debt ceiling in the short term and ultimately preventing American debt from continuing to grow unchecked in the long term is extremely important, no matter how we decide to go about it.  Even so, I suppose there's always hope that either house sets aside the biggest, time-sensitive issues to debate the e-Waste legislation much like they did for the incandescent light bulb last week.

Second, there's an interesting article about the impact of state e-waste recycling laws in Wisconsin and a short analysis of all stake holders' potential opinions on the 24 state laws versus a new Federal one like that which is in Congress now.  Two things are interesting to note here:

• A Janesville, WI recycling center has added 40 additional jobs since the state passed its e-waste recycling laws.  This is a compelling argument for federal laws, especially in these economic times.  If the law is promoted from a job-creating standpoint, it may have a better chance of getting passed.  That is, if Congress gets around to actually debating it before the end of session. 

• The article raises the point that a state-by-state patchwork of e-waste legislation raises sunk costs as electronics manufacturers comply with regulations 24 different ways across the country.  This adds to the so-called 'busy work' of e-waste recycling without increasing its efficiency.  In this light, a federal law may provide a streamlined method that reduces the costs of compliance.