Mar 6 - Washington E-waste Bill Headed to Governor

The Washington State Senate today approved and sent to Governor Christine Gregoire what is arguably the nation's most comprehensive e-waste recycling law. SB 6428 is similar to legislation enacted in Maine in 2004, in that it requires manufacturers of covered electronics to submit and implement a plan for the recycling of e-waste.  

The proposed Washington law is more comprehensive in scope than California's 2003 Electronics Waste Recycling Act (SB 20, Sher), in that it covers computer CPU's, as well as monitors, laptops and televisions.

Californians Against Waste is sponsoring AB 3001 by Assembly Member Fran Pavley, which would expand the scope of the California law to include CPU's.

For a summary of Washington's SB 6428 click here.

Governor Gregoire has 20 days to sign the measure. If she does, Washington will join California, Maine, and Maryland as the only state's yet to implement some type of Extended Producer Responsibility policy for recycling electronics. the Computer Takeback Campaign has prepared a comparison of the four state laws.