Upfront computer disposal fees may be on the way up

Sacramento Bee ^ | 5/28/7 | Jim Sanders

[SmithL]

Call it a burial plan for your personal computer.

Proposed legislation would expand the notion of paying for the demise of your new computer before you make the first keystroke.

Several years ago, California tacked a $6 to $10 fee on the sale of computer monitors to bolster recycling efforts.

Now the target is the computer's innards -- its central processing unit, or "tower," that interprets instructions and handles data.

Assembly Bill 1535 would charge a $6 fee on each of the millions of computer processing units sold in California each year.

Disposal fees could be a wave of the future, with environmentalists eyeing similar charges for scanners, printers and fax machines.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said consumers are becoming increasingly aware of health dangers posed by toxic waste. Lead, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals in many electronics products have been linked to cancer, kidney and other health problems.

"More and more, we're starting to connect these global environmental problems with the choices that we make as consumers and businesses," said Huffman, who crafted AB 1535.

The disposal fee is designed to bolster the number of recyclers accepting personal computers, which are classified as hazardous waste.

"It's illegal to throw them away, but you can't conveniently recycle them," Huffman said.

Critics counter that government intervention is unnecessary because recycling computer circuit boards, metals and wiring already is profitable.

"Recyclers are jumping over themselves to get this material," said Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton. "Why hurt consumers for something that's already happening?"

David Wolfe of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association agreed.

"Why are we increasing government when private industry has done the job?" Wolfe asked. "It doesn't make sense to me."

[Thebaddog]

BTW, it is illegal to dispose of ANY electronic item or even AA batteries in either the regular trash or recycling bins in CA. You must locate a registered disposal center for all such items and, surprise, pay another fee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you have battery police out there?

[RushingWater]

Gosh, silly me. I just threw my old monitor in the trash bin.

[Jeff Chandler]

will they just forget the money they've already taken and charge another tax when I want to get rid of it?

Just have Goodwill come pick it up.

[mamelukesabre]

So if I sell my computer instead of throwing it away, do I get my disposal fee reimbursed?

Why do I get the feeling these computers will be disposed of exactly the same as BEFORE the disposal fee?

[Revel]

And what happens if you buy the computer in California, and then move to another state with it? Do they give you your money back?

[umgud]

It costs money to get rid of them now. With this new tax we’ll be paying an upfront fee to disposae themand then have to pay again when we do the deed.

[Revel]

I guess you should shop out of state for computers from now on.

[Wiseghy]

There are serious suggestions to ID trash and recycle bin contents using junk mail and other items, in order to enforce the law.

BTW, the nearest “recycle center” is about 15+ miles away from my urban/suburban location. Hours are limited and procedures for bringing items, and the cost for doing so, are fuzzy at best.

[Malesherbes]

California: if it exists, tax it.

[traviskicks]

"Disposal fees could be a wave of the future, with environmentalists eyeing similar charges for scanners, printers and fax machines."





Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[KoRn]

What about folks like me who build their own? hehe

[dcwusmc]

I’ve often wanted to do that with stuff that won’t stay fixed... thanks for the link...

[MarkL]

Aren't the only "hazardous" materials in the CRT display and the batteries? I suppose the newer displays might have hazardous material too, but it seems ridiculous to call the entire computer HAZMAT....unless you want an excuse to increase the disposal tax.

No, there's lead on the circuit boards (from the solder joints), although many manufacturers have moved to low lead content solder. And most companies have gotten away from "non-green" toxic board cleaners as well. Still, there's a fair amount of "toxic" material in a computer. Far less than there used to be, but still...

Anything for a new tax.

Mark

[tubebender]

And then the county dump charges an additional fee up here behind the Redwood Curtain...

[bamahead]

Tech ping

[ShadowAce]

[TChris]

Now the target is the computer's innards -- its central processing unit, or "tower," that interprets instructions and handles data.

*sigh*

It's annoying when ignorant journalists take it upon themselves to define terms they don't understand.

The "tower" is the computer. It's not the "central processing unit", or CPU. The CPU is the microchip that processes information and controls the computer; it lives in the "tower" on the motherboard or mainboard. There may be more than one of them in a single computer.

[Turbopilot]

I tried like heck to recycle an old 17" CRT I had when it finally died. Couldn't find any local places that would take it, and the number to a place I found that said to call for CRT removal was disconnected. I was in college at the time, and asked the IT office there, and they had no idea either. The only thing I could find was to pay about $50 to ship the monitor to Dell (I think; maybe it was some other vendor). I wonder what the "carbon footprint" for shipping a 30lb CRT across the country is.

After about a week with no success, I threw the thing in the dumpster behind the dorms. Didn't cost me a dime. I expect that's where most such equipment will end up if the government starts charging people to give their old equipment to companies who will recycle or sell it for a profit.

[antiRepublicrat]

I would almost understand this if the bill forced the computer manufacturer to collect a recycle fee up front. Then at the end-of-life all the user has to do is request a label from the manufacturer, put the computer in a box with the shipping label on it, and ship it back to the manufacturer for recycling.

That would actually result in most computers being recycled. But it leaves the state out of the income loop — that can’t be allowed.

So of course that’s not the case. They just want the money, and expect to get almost $47 million annually from this scam.

[ColdWater]

BTW, it is illegal to dispose of ANY electronic item or even AA batteries in either the regular trash or recycling bins in CA.

Uh Oh.