The state of New Jersey is starting the New Year off by enacting a ban to keep electronic waste (e-waste) out of landfills.
As of January 1, 2011, the Electronic Waste Management Act requires all New Jersey residents to recycle used electronics.
With the law, the state also takes important steps to shift responsibility for the cost of recycling electronics from consumer to producer. For manufacturers this means registering, paying a $5,000 fee to fund state regulators, and submitting a plan for how their products will be responsibly recovered at the end of their life cycle. Failure to comply with the new laws may result in the company losing its license to sell electronics.
Also important is the laws insistence that dead electronics not be exported to developing nations as has been done in the past. (Learn more about this here.)
Prior to the law, residents of the Garden State were recycling 10-12 million pounds of e-waste per year. That number is expected to reach 50 million pounds this year. Such significant diversion from landfills will also help to limit the health risks and environmental damage caused when the harmful chemicals found in electronics—lead, mercury, cadmium—make their way into land and water.
Residents of New Jersey will be able to recycle goods for free at collection centers and participating retailers like Best Buy, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army. In some municipalities, curbside pickups of e-waste may also be available. Not included in the law are cell phones, VCRs, DVD players, and video game consoles.
For a full list of what must be recycled and where it can be dropped off or picked up visit New Jersey’s recycling site.
-
Cool Kids Challenge Trash
22 November 2010 2:42 PM | No CommentsBloomfield Township, Michigan teacher Pauline Roberts wrote a post for TreeHugger detailing her students’ challenge to lessen waste at their school as part of the Siemens We Can Change the World sustainability challenge. Participating students found that each day during lunch, enough waste was being generated...
Read More -
Today is America Recycles Day
15 November 2010 9:36 AM | No CommentsToday is America Recycles Day. It is being billed as “the only nationally recognized day dedicated to the promotion of recycling programs in the United States.” What an exemplary opportunity to spread the joy of sustainable living, right? Well, not according to Lloyd Alter of PlantGreen.com. ...
Read More -
Illuminating Waste
23 September 2010 8:46 AM | 1 CommentDog poop is illuminating things in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Using dog poop, two steel, 500 gallon oil tanks and an old gaslight street lamp, the light’s creator Matthew Mazzotta is hoping to draw attention to the waste we waste. The “Park Spark,” as it is called,...
Read More -
The State of the Spill
16 July 2010 9:32 AM | No CommentsBy now, you’ve probably heard that after 85 days and 184 million gallons of spilled oil, BP has (finally) capped the gushing oil well in the Gulf. There is still a great deal of concern over the cap, the oil that’s already been spilled, and...
Read More
