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Acknowledgment
Executive Summary
Background
Nevada Assembly Bill 426
Definition of E-Waste
Concerns and Hazards
Federal E-Waste Regulations
Nevada's Voluntary System
Overview
Current Infrastructure
Drop-off Locations
Special Collection Events
Take-back Programs
Legislation in Other States
State Mandatory Programs
California - ARF Program
Oregon - PR Program
Maryland - PR Program
State Voluntary Systems
State E-Waste Landfill Bans
Recommendation
No Legislation - Continue
Existing Voluntary System
Appendices
Tables of Available Services
Map of Services in Nevada
Assembly Bill 426
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Background
Nevada Assembly Bill 426
Assembly Bill (AB) 426, introduced during Nevada's 75th Legislative Session, proposed the creation of a State program to mandate the recycling of electronic waste (e-waste). The proposed program was to be modeled after Oregon's e-waste recycling program in which manufacturers of certain electronic devices are required to provide for their end-of-life (EOL) management through physical and/or financial responsibility.
Numerous recyclers, retailers, manufacturers and interest groups testified on this proposal -- some supporting and others opposing AB426. Collectively, their testimony affirmed that e-waste recycling is already occurring in Nevada, but that these services have not been adequately identified, documented, or promoted to the public. A common theme emerged throughout the hearings: E-waste reuse and recycling has merit on many levels, including protection of human health and the environment, and should be addressed because of its growing volume and prevalence, but deciding upon the best approach is a complex issue that required additional evaluation. As a result, the proposed bill was amended to require an interim study of e-waste reuse and recycling programs.
The NDEP was tasked with the study and specifically with: 1) conducting an inventory programs for the reuse and recycling of computers and other electronics in Nevada and in neighboring states; 2) evaluating those programs; and, 3) submitting a report to the Legislature recommending possible legislation. A study group, which included representatives from the electronics industry, recyclers and local government, was formed to identify existing reuse and recycling programs statewide, provide insight on how any proposed program would impact their business, advantages and disadvantages of other state programs and their effectiveness.
Definition of E-Waste
For the purposes of this report, e-waste is defined as EOL computers (including CPUs, laptops, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) and flat panel monitors) and TVs. The e-waste definition does not include mobile communication devices (cell phones, PDAs) because they may be readily recycled for no charge at their source through manufacturer take-back programs and pose no significant e-waste problem.
Concerns and Hazards
Electronic devices are composed of a wide variety of hazardous constituents such as arsenic, lead, nickel, cadmium, and mercury. These constituents have been identified by the EPA as "priority toxins" because they are persistent in the environment and bio-accumulate. They are considered dangerous, even in small quantities, and are known to pose risks to human health and the environment if mismanaged2. Although no evidence of e-waste contaminated leachate has been found in Nevada to date, if landfilled, e-waste has the potential to release these hazardous constituents into the soil and groundwater.
While not a major concern in Nevada, our survey found that other states are experiencing dwindling landfill space as e-waste volume continues to grow. Diverting e-waste from landfills has several merits: conserving/protecting natural resources (air, water, and raw materials), allowing for recovery of reusable materials from e-waste, and extending a landfill's useful life-span in areas that have high-use, high-density landfills. In order to address these concerns and to comply with mandatory e-waste laws in other states, several major manufacturers have established programs to recover and recycle their products nation-wide.
Federal E-Waste Regulations
Nationally, e-waste stakeholders have been debating how to address EOL management for many years. These stakeholders include federal, state and local public agencies, manufacturers and retailers, environmental groups, recyclers, and non-profit organizations. Stakeholders and lawmakers have yet to agree on how to draft e-waste legislation that would establish a federal solution. The lack of a federal e-waste program and low e-waste recycling rates nationally prompted the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study what the EPA is doing to promote e-waste reuse and recycling.
In a July 2010 report3, GAO recommended that the EPA do two things to promote environmentally sound e-waste reuse and recycling. First, evaluate their partnership programs for effectiveness and look for ways to improve e-waste EOL management. Second, they recommended that EPA work with other federal agencies to come up an e-waste management proposal for congressional consideration. The EPA agreed with the recommendations and has begun reaching out to form partnerships with manufacturers, retailers and other e-waste recyclers to improve their take-back programs. EPA is also working with the State Department and other federal agencies to draft a legislative package addressing both commercial and household generated e-waste.
Currently the EPA regulates e-waste generated commercially under two (2) federal programs: the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA)4, or the Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Rule5. Household generated e-waste is not regulated at the federal level.
2 US GAO Report to Congressional Requesters, "Electronic Waste, Strengthening the Role of the Federal Government Encouraging Recycling and Reuse." November 2005, GAO-06-47.
3 US GAO Report to Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, "Electronic Waste, Considerations for Promoting Environmentally Sound Reuse and Recycling." July 2010, GAO-10-626.
4 US EPA, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which was enacted by Congress in 1976. RCRA's primary goals are to protect human health and the environment from the potential hazards of waste disposal, to conserve energy and natural resources, to reduce the amount of waste generated, and to ensure that wastes are managed in an environmentally sound manner. RCRA regulates the management of solid waste (e.g., garbage), hazardous waste, and underground storage tanks holding petroleum products or certain chemicals.
5 US EPA, Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Rule, July 2006. This rule streamlines management requirements for the recycling of used CRTs and glass removed from CRTs under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
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