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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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Executive Summary
Assembly Bill (AB) 426, introduced during Nevada's 75th Legislative Session, proposed the creation of a State program to govern electronic waste (e-waste) recycling. During the session, AB426 was amended to require the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) to conduct an interim study of e-waste reuse and recycling programs in Nevada and surrounding states.
Voluntary systems and mandatory programs were examined nationwide. Mandatory programs are employed in 23 states. In the absence of national legislation, a patchwork of state legislation has developed1. These programs vary widely in their approach to e-waste reuse and recycling, e.g. in the types of electronic devices covered by their programs, the means by which their programs are funded, the level of oversight and reporting required, etc. Three state programs representing the range of approaches being implemented across the country are discussed in detail: California's Advance Recovery Fee (ARF), the only "consumer fee" program in the country; Oregon's Producer Responsibility (PR) program, which was adopted in 2009 and is one of the most complex state mandatory programs; and a simplified PR program recently adopted by Maryland.
The mandatory programs being run in California and Oregon were determined to be overly-complex and fiscally burdensome and were not recommended for legislative consideration. While Maryland's program is a simplified and less costly version of a PR program, the initial start-up of such a program would still have a significant fiscal impact on state and local agencies and would require fees to be assessed on electronics manufacturers. While such a program may be effective in urban areas, it would be difficult to implement in the rural parts of the state and may provide no additional coverage in those areas. Additionally, these programs are typically established in conjunction with a ban on the disposal of electronic waste into landfills. Such a ban would ensure that more e-waste goes to recyclers and could increase the number and availability of recyclers. However, it would also increase initial implementation costs, would require more enforcement capability, and would likely result in more e-waste being exported to developing countries for end-of-life management. Based on the experiences of other states, a landfill ban in Nevada would need to be implemented gradually over a few years and then perhaps only in the most urban counties to allow for the necessary additional recycling capacity to be developed and to avoid unintended impacts such as desert dumping.
Voluntary systems are currently operating in the remaining 27 states, including Nevada and a number of our neighboring states, i.e. Idaho, Arizona and Utah. Although several e-waste bills have been proposed over the years in those states, none have become law due, in part, to the funding required to develop, staff, and implement mandatory programs.
Under Nevada's existing voluntary system, the infrastructure is already in place to deal with most of Nevada's e-waste. There are currently 45 drop-off locations in the two major population centers of the state. The e-waste collection that occurs at these centers is augmented by the collection activities of several large non-profit organizations. E-waste collection services are often offered free-of-charge, while others charge per unit or by the pound fees. For example, there is typically a charge to recycle TVs because, compared to computers, TVs are less valuable to recyclers. Between local collection facilities, special collection events, retail take-backs and trade-ins, mail-ins, and on-line trade-ins, about 95% of Nevada's population has access to some form of existing e-waste recycling services. The remaining 5% represents consumers in Nevada's most remote rural areas. All of the reuse/recycling services currently available in Nevada are listed on the NDEP website, NevadaRecycles.gov.
Recommendation
Because the vast majority of Nevadans currently have access to e-waste recycling, and significant initial costs to the state would be incurred to establish a mandatory program, efforts to increase e-waste recycling through the existing voluntary program are recommended. With existing resources, NDEP could continue to work with local retailers, manufacturers, recyclers and local governments to enhance public awareness of existing e-waste programs and to encourage the development of new programs.
If, after additional efforts to increase public awareness, the voluntary program is not achieving the desired results and funding becomes available, the legislature could consider establishing a simplified version of the PR program, similar to one being implemented in Maryland in conjunction with a ban on the disposal of e-waste.
1 A federal e-waste program has yet to be developed. However, in response to a GAO draft report, dated May, 2010, the U.S. EPA issued a letter, dated May 28, 2010, stating that they are working with other federal agencies to draft Federal e-waste reuse and recycling legislation . Completion of this legislation is not anticipated in the near future.
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