MADISON, WI – State Senator Mark Miller will introduce legislation that would set up an electronics waste recycling program in Wisconsin, according to published reports. 
 
Modeled after a bill in Minnesota, the proposed legislation would require manufacturers to pay for recycling household computers, televisions, cellphones and more. The bill would also ban toxic electronics devices from landfills.
 
A hearing is expected to be held in the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee later this month.
 
Meanwhile, New York’s City Council is pushing a similar bill. Under the NYC bill, computers, TV and handheld electronics recycling would be mandatory. The bill contains incentives to limit the amount of toxic materials used to make electronics.

A 2006 Wisconsin state survey showed 3.8 million computers and nearly 7.5 million TVs in state households. Some 25% of computers and televisions become obsolete in any one year, said Cynthia Moore, DNR recycling program coordinator, while only 14% are recycled, and the number of discarded TVs are expected to rise dramatically during the next two years, as a law requiring new TVs to be digital takes effect, she explained.
 
Under proposed legislation, electronics manufacturers would be required to recycle 60% of the electronic products sold in Wisconsin the first year of the law and 80% the second year. Manufacturers would be exempt from antitrust laws, so they could work together to create cooperative programs.