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Written by zack o'brien
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For a while now, I’ve been following the news on how states across the country have moved to implement e-waste laws. The international community also continues to introduce legislation to ensure that computers and other electronics are kept out of landfills.
I imagine that some of you are also familiar with the recent debates on e-waste that are taking place in the European Union. It’s always a tricky situation because lawmakers want to find a balance between keeping hazardous waste out of landfills and not overburdening businesses.
Since 2008, the EU has been revising its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) initiative. Back in February, the European Parliament agreed that it would require 85 percent of all electronics to be recycled.
However, last month the EU’s Environment Council proposed a reduction in the WEEE requirement. Now, manufacturers are expected to recycle only 65 percent of all electronics produced—a significant cut.
Environmental activists in Europe are pretty angry. They feel that the reduction is too large a concession. The Parliament and the Council are scheduled to negotiate later this year, so it’s possible that the WEEE will again be revised, based on a compromise between the two entities.
In some ways this ongoing revision process reminds me of the struggles going on at the state level in the U.S. More than twenty states have implemented e-waste laws, while others sit on proposed legislation for years. Most people can agree that e-waste is a problem; what they can’t agree on is who should take responsibility for it.
I believe that whether or not laws exist that require businesses to recycle their IT equipment, the onus is on each of us to keep e-waste out of the landfills. Businesses across the United States and the European Union should take responsibility and seek out recycling services. We don’t really have time to wait for it to be compulsory. -Courtesy of Salma Systems
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