California is the first state to pass the e-recycling law. That happened in 2003. After that, 27 other states followed the same path and became part of the national electronic recycling program. The states that did not have opted for electronic recycling laws yet use the takeback program proposed by nonprofit organizations, local bodies, and private companies.
California law was passed by an explicit fee, while the rest of the 23 states required manufacturer cost to cover the expenses involved in the national electronic recycling program for recycling the e-waste. Costs include the collecting the waste from the companies and recycling them to some degree.
ETBC (Electronic TakeBack Coalition) has come up with some important lessons for future lawmakers after studying the outcome of the national electronic recycling program implemented in the various states.
1. You can't collect the assets you don't require legally.
2. You are required to collect the e-waste from urban as well as rural areas. You can't leave the rural areas behind.
3. A complete ban on landfill dumping. States that have implemented the ban on landfill dumping have seen the rise in the recycling volumes.
4. There are laws in the national electronic recycling program that reward more for recycling than reusing. But, they also encourage that if an item can be reused rather than recycle than one should go for reuse instead of recycling.
Other important considerations for electronic recycling:
If you are reusing or recycling your IT assets, you need to protect your data first. In the case of recycling, when all your storage devices are shredded for data destruction, no trace of the previous is left on anything. But, if you are going for a reuse and planning to sell it to the third party, erasing your data becomes crucial.
Protecting your personal data is always in your best interest.
Many electronic recycling service providers even under the national electronic recycling program are not allowed to take bulk orders, many do not have the right equipment to wipe out the data, and many do not separate the harmful assets from the rest such as batteries that can explode while shredding.
If not shredding, than demanufacturing or dismantling is done where the companies manually dismantle the electronic waste to make it recyclable. Following the dismantling process, more components can be taken out of the assets that can be used elsewhere. This is done by highly trained professionals who know which part can be used and which part can't be taken out.
So, always talk to your electronic recycling service provider whether he is legally allowed to provide you with what you need or not.
