EDITORIAL: Recycling Electronic Waste

By The Hartford Courant, Conn.

Jun. 8–State lawmakers deserve a round of applause for adopting a measure that sets up a recycling program for computer monitors and televisions — electronic devices that, discarded in landfills or incinerated, are already creating a poisonous legacy for future generations.

Under the bill, municipalities will be required to provide collection sites for discarded computers and televisions by Jan. 1, 2009. Each manufacturer of these products will be assessed a $5,000 fee annually, creating a fund that will reimburse cities and towns for the cost of transporting the items to recycling centers.

Computers and televisions contain lead, beryllium and mercury — neurotoxins and carcinogens that, left to slowly degrade in a landfill, leach into rivers.

When the equipment is incinerated or crushed, its toxins are released into the air and soil. Already, the federal government estimates that electronic products alone account for 40 percent of the lead in the nation’s landfills.

By creating a system for the responsible disposal of these products (one that’s funded by manufacturers), state lawmakers have devised a solution that is just and environmentally responsible. We urge Gov. M. Jodi Rell to sign this bill.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Hartford Courant, Conn.

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