Consolidators & Recyclers Guide to Maine 's Television and Computer Monitor Recycling Law

Shared Responsibility for Recycling

In the Spring of 2004, Maine passed a new law An Act to Protect the Public Health and the Environment by Providing for a System of Shared Responsibility for the Safe Collection and Recycling of Electronic Waste , (P.L. Chapter 661). This law has provisions that apply to businesses that consolidate and/or recycle waste televisions and computer monitors generated by households in Maine . The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) created this guide to provide consolidators and recyclers with the information from this law that is relevant to them. A complete copy of the law can be obtained at www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/solidwaste/index.htm or by calling 207-287-2651.

Products covered by this law

Products covered (“covered electronic devices”) are wastes generated by households in Maine , including:

• Computer central processing units

• Computer monitors and televisions with cathode ray tubes and flat panel displays greater than four inches (4”) measured diagonally and that contain one or more circuit boards.

Products with cathode ray tubes or flat panel displays that are not subject to the law include:

• an automobile, a household appliance, a large piece of commercial or industrial equipment, such as commercial medical equipment, in which the cathode ray tube or flat panel display is contained within and not separate from the larger piece of equipment.

Consolidation facility definition

The law defines a consolidation facility as a facility where electronic wastes are consolidated and temporarily stored while awaiting shipment of at least a 40-foot trailer full of covered electronic devices to a recycling, treatment or disposal facility. This includes a transport vehicle owned or leased by a recycling and dismantling facility with a minimum 40-foot trailer used to collect covered electronic devices at municipal collection sites in this State. For example, a business can contract to pick up waste televisions and computer monitors from municipal collection sites with a 40-foot (or larger) trailer, and the truck/trailer becomes a consolidation facility for purposes of this law at the point at which the trailer becomes full.

Delivery of waste computer monitors and televisions to in-state consolidation facilities

Municipalities are responsible for establishing a system to get waste household computer monitors to an in-state consolidation facility. Collection can be accomplished by an annual one-day collection, an on-going collection at a solid waste or recycling facility, or a contract with a consolidation facility to allow residents to deliver their wastes directly to the facility. Municipalities are responsible for the costs associated with transporting waste household computer monitors and televisions from the local collection point to the in-state point of consolidation. To ensure that manufacturers are charged only the cost of recycling household computer monitors, municipalities will need to clearly identify which televisions and computer monitors were generated by households. A couple of ways this may be done include marking the outside of each unit generated by a household with a permanent marker and, when applicable, by providing documentation that the facility only accepts televisions and computer monitors from households.

Consolidation facility responsibilities for waste computer monitors and televisions

Consolidation facilities have four basic responsibilities under this law:

• Identify the manufacturer of each waste household television and computer monitor and maintain an accounting by manufacturer (this accounting should separate televisions from computer monitors even if they were produced by the same manufacturer). Consolidation facilities can contract with their recycling facilities to perform this accounting and provide the information to them.

• Annually, beginning March 1, 2007, provide the Maine DEP with this accounting of televisions and computer monitors by manufacturer.

• Work cooperatively with the manufacturers to establish a practical and feasible financing system. At a minimum, consolidators must invoice the manufacturers for its reasonable operational costs associated with the handling, transportation, and recycling costs of the wastes for which each manufacturer is responsible. Manufacturers have the flexibility to work together and to request separation of their products as long as they are willing to bear the operational costs for services they request. Within 90 days of receipt of an invoice, a manufacturer shall reimburse a consolidation facility for allowable costs incurred by that consolidation facility. The Maine DEP will publish rules that identify the criteria that consolidation facilities will use to determine reasonable operational costs.

• Consolidators may only ship waste televisions and computer monitors to dismantlers and recyclers that will provide the consolidation facility with a sworn certification that its handling, processing, refurbishment, and recycling meet environmentally sound management guidelines published by the Maine DEP. Consolidators must maintain a copy of the sworn certification from each recycler for a minimum of 3 years, and provide that certification to the Maine DEP upon request.

Manufacturers are individually responsible for the costs of handling and recycling of all household-generated waste computer monitors and televisions once they are delivered to an in-state consolidation facility. This includes products manufactured by any business for which the manufacturer has assumed legal responsibility. Computer monitor manufacturers are also responsible for a pro rata share of orphan waste computer monitors, and television manufacturers are responsible for a pro rata share of orphan waste televisions. MEDEP will determine each manufacturer's pro rata share based on the best available information, and will provide this information to consolidators and manufacturers annually. This list will provide consolidators with the information they need to appropriately bill the manufacturers.

Dismantling/Recycling facility responsibilities

Dismantlers and recycling facilities will be asked by consolidation facilities in Maine to provide a sworn certification that its handling, processing, refurbishment, and recycling meet environmentally sound management guidelines published by the Maine DEP. A dismantling/recycling business that contract to pick up waste household televisions and computer monitors from local collection sites in Maine, (thus acting as an in-state consolidator as defined in the law) must certify that its handling, processing, refurbishment, and recycling meet the environmentally sound management guidelines published by the Maine DEP, and must provide that certification to the Maine DEP upon request. The Maine DEP will publish and distribute these guidelines by the end of 2004.

Manufacturers and consolidators must work cooperatively

By working cooperatively, manufacturers and consolidators can utilize their private sector expertise to create a practical and feasible system for financing and managing the recycling of computer monitors and televisions.

Implementation of the shared responsibility system

Manufacturer responsibility for the costs of consolidation and recycling of waste household computer monitors and televisions generated by households in Maine begins on January 18, 2006. This means that consolidators should invoice manufacturers for allowable costs incurred beginning January 18, 2006.

Where to direct all submittals and questions

All submittals required by this law should be submitted to:

Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Remediation & Waste Management, E-waste Program|
17 State House Station
Augusta , Maine 04333

MEDEP staff contact for this program is:

Carole Cifrino, Environmental Specialist IV
Division of Solid Waste Management
Bureau of Remediation & Waste Management
Phone: 207-287-7720 Fax: 207-287-7826

E-mail: carole.a.cifrino@Maine.gov