In 2008, the Electronic Products Recycling & Reuse Act was signed into law. The legislation makes electronics manufacturers responsible for recycling or refurbishing E-Waste, the fastest growing component of the solid waste stream. Illinois’s landmark legislation is unique because it relies on the free market rather than create a state managed program. The Caucus has created this web page to help you understand how the legislation will impact your community.

E-WASTE RECYCLING FAQ

In 2008, the Electronic Products Recycling & Reuse Act was signed into law. The legislation makes electronics manufacturers responsible for recycling or refurbishing E-Waste, the fastest growing component of the solid waste stream. Illinois’s landmark legislation is unique because it relies on the free market rather than create a state managed program. The Caucus has created this FAQ to help you understand how the legislation will impact your community. The Caucus also invites you to ask more questions. Your questions may be referred to the IL EPA and manufacturer trade groups.

Does my community have to do anything?

No. Your community is not under any requirement to provide E-Waste recycling. Only manufacturers, retailers, recyclers and collectors are subject to requirements under the legislation. However, your residents will probably have questions about E-Waste Recycling as the Illinois EPA begins a public information campaign in late 2009. Please review the IL EPA information as it is released.

How will Public Act 95-0959 – Electronic Products Recycling & Reuse Act impact my community?

You should no longer have to pay for E-Waste Recycling. Manufacturers should pay for it. If your community previously applied to DCEO for funds to cover E-Waste recycling events, it is unlikely that they will be able to do so in the future. In some cases manufacturers and recyclers will contact your municipality or cultural institutions in your community to host events.

Why is a recycler offering me a free recycling event?

If your community has been approached by a recycler to have an E-Waste collection for free, it is likely that the recycler is under contract with a manufacturer that is trying to meet their recycling goal. Your public facilities and staff are a valuable commodity to the recycler and the manufacturer. Before signing a contract, you may wish to develop an in-house estimate of costs and ask for compensation. Compensation may be a straight charge or a per pound fee. To receive assistance estimating your costs, please contact Eve Pytel at 312-201-4506 or via email epytel@mayorscaucus.org.

Why does a company want to give me an event?

The company may be a manufacturer that is under legal responsibility to recycle a certain amount of E-Waste each year. This may range from a few hundred to more than four million pounds. Your public facilities and staff are a valuable commodity to the recycler and the manufacturer. Before signing a contract, you may wish to develop an in-house estimate of costs and ask for compensation. Compensation may be a straight charge or a per pound fee. To receive assistance estimating your costs, please contact Eve Pytel at 312-201-4506 or via email epytel@mayorscaucus.org.

What is the true cost of a recycling event?

The cost for events can range dramatically. The costs may include marketing the event, recycling, use of the facility, and staff time to organize the event. When a free event is offered, the recycler and/or manufacturer may have made a tacit assumption that the municipality will act as an in-kind sponsor. By hosting the event, the municipality is playing the role of a collector and can be compensated for use of facilities and staff to organize the event. A straight fee or per pound fee is appropriate.

How should I determine my per pound collection fee?

First determine the hard costs to your municipality. The event may require you to have 4 employees work on weekend for 4 hours. Let’s assume that the cost is $30 an hour. The recycler/manufacturer may ask you to help publicize the event and have marketing costs. The cost incurred by the community is

Personnel $30*4*4 = $480.

Marketing cost = $300

Total cost = $780

Second estimate the amount of E-Waste that will be recovered. Perhaps you or a neighboring community hosted an event last year and 48,000 lbs was recovered at an E-Waste Event. Divide the cost by the estimated pounds.

$780 ÷ 48,000 = $0.016 cent/lb

To receive assistance estimating your costs, please contact Eve Pytel at 312-201-4506 or via email epytel@mayorscaucus.org.

 What can my residents recycle?

The E-Waste legislation pertains to “Covered Electronic Devices” – Computers (including laptops), Computer Monitors, Televisions and Printers discarded through the residential waste stream only. Manufacturers can also get full credit for the following “Eligible Electronic Devices” discarded from residences: Mobile Phone, Computer Cable, Mouse, or Keyboard; stand alone fax; MP3 players; PDA; Video Game Console; Video Cassette player/recorder; dvd player; zip drive or scanner.

If someone brings items not covered by the event whose responsibility is it?

When you meet with the recycler/manufacturer ask how they will deal with this to ensure that the municipality will not be responsible FOR electronics and other household waste outside the scope of the event.

Can we invite businesses and local governments to recycle their ewaste?

Because business, school and government E-Waste is not covered by the legislation it is unlikely that the manufacturer funding the event will want to pay for it. Also, non household e-waste will have to be kept separate from the household e-waste to enable the manufacturer to determine how many pounds of RESIDENTIAL e-waste were recovered.

 Should we allow a not-for-profit to refurbish computers for the public good?

Manufacturers can receive additional credits toward their goals for contracting with registered refurbishers to return discarded equipment to its original intended use and then donate the refurbished equipment to specific types of not-for-profits listed in the law. The law prescribes specific operational guidelines that manufacturers are expected to include in their contracts with recyclers and refurbishers, such as the wiping of hard drives to eliminate all personal data.

 Can we charge households a fee to recycle e-waste?

No. Households should not be asked to pay any fee for E-Waste recycling. If they are charged a fee, the manufacturer funding will not meet their “producer responsibility” requirements unless the manufacturer provides a dollar-for-dollar coupon to the individual turning in the E-Waste. Households requesting a special service like curbside collection, however, may be charged a fee; manufacturers in this case do not have to provide a coupon in exchange.

 Should my municipality pay a fee for E-Waste Recycling?

The legislation was created to relieve municipalities of the burden of funding e-waste collection. Legally there is nothing to keep you from paying for it; however, your e-waste is a valuable commodity to manufacturers responsible for meeting goals set by the legislation. If your municipality wants to host an E-Waste Collection for businesses, government agencies, and schools, it will need to fund the event because only household e-waste is covered by the legislation. If an organization wants to charge you money to cover an event for your residents, that organization cannot receive funds from a manufacturer to collect E-Waste because manufacturer, under the law, needs to pay for the recycling.

 I've heard that municipalities in Illinois' rural counties are treated separately in the law.  How does that work?

The Act provides manufacturers with double-credit for any electronic waste recycled or refurbished in what are termed "underserved counties."  These counties were categorized as such in a 2005 study by Illinois DCEO.  Typically, they were counties without access to electronic waste recycling services.  A list of the served counties is in the Act, so if your county isn't on that list, it's underserved.  (A copy of the Act is accessible via the Illinois EPA website listed at the end of this FAQ.)  The double-credit is intended to encourage manufacturers to make e-waste recycling available in Illinois' lesser-populated counties.  One suggestion is for municipalities in contiguous underserved counties to band together with a recycler and/or refurbisher, and then approach a manufacturer as a group, highlighting the double-credit opportunity and showing a larger population by banding together than by approaching a manufacturer separately.  The Illinois EPA is charged with periodically updating the list, but a county that is called underserved remains one for three years, even if a recycling facility opens within that three years.

 A company has approached us to sponsor an E-Waste event and we want to use a local recycler. What do we need to know?

Recyclers must be registered with IL EPA and manufacturers will probably want to vet the recycler to assure that they will properly manage the event and that their goods will not be shipped to third world countries.

What steps should I take if I want to facilitate E-Waste Recycling in my community?

There are many avenues through which municipalities can facilitate E-Waste Recycling. Municipalities may visit the IL EPA website at http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/electronic-waste-recycling/ and register as a collector. Collectors are listed on the website and potentially recyclers and manufacturers may contact you to offer an event. You are also welcome to work with the Caucus. The Caucus makes manufacturers aware of E-Waste Recycling Opportunities on a monthly basis. Please contact the Eve Pytel by phone at 312-201-4506 or via email at epytel@mayorscaucus.org to add your community to the list.

Where can I get more information about Illinois’s E-Waste legislation?

http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/electronic-waste-recycling/

Is Illinois’s legislation vastly different from other state’s E-Waste legislation?

Yes. Rather than use the free market approach, many other states have state managed programs. While that is a significant difference there are a number of differences between all of the state E-Waste Legislation regarding the following issues:

• Definition of what is covered by the law ( Illinois has the broadest range of products; see page 2 of the FAQ)
• How quickly landfill bans take effect (The state’s landfill ban will take effect in 2012.)
• The use of prison labor in recycling or refurbishing E-Waste ( Illinois bans the use of prison labor)

The Congressional Research Service compiled the “Managing Electronic Waste: An Analyses of State E-Waste Legislation” report which runs through the differences. The report predates the Illinois legislation, but provides detailed analysis of the different policies and their implications.

http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34147_20070829.pdf