Municipal 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 Maine municipalities as part of their MSW management responsibilities. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) created this guide to provide municipalities 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 certain electronic wastes generated by households in Maine, including:

• 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.

• Computer central processing units (CPUs) (the only requirement for CPUs in this law is that manufacturers affix a permanent label to identify their products) .

Municipal responsibility

Under this law, a municipality's primary responsibility is to establish a system to deliver waste household computer monitors and televisions to in-state consolidation facilities so that they can then be recycled. There is a variety of ways municipalities can accomplish this. For example, a municipality can do an annual one-day collection event or establish on-going collection at a solid waste or recycling facility, and then contract for transportation to an in-state universal waste consolidation facility. Alternatively, a municipality can 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 or, when applicable, by providing documentation that the facility only accepts televisions and computer monitors from households.

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 Maine. 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.

Consolidation facility responsibilities for waste computer monitors and televisions

Consolidation facilities have four basic responsibilities under this law: 1) Identify the manufacturer of each waste household television and computer monitor and maintain an accounting by manufacturer; 2) provide the Maine DEP with this accounting of televisions and computer monitors by manufacturer; 3) invoice the manufacturers for reasonable operational costs associated with the handling, transportation, and recycling costs of the wastes for which each manufacturer is responsible; and 4) ship waste televisions and computer monitors only 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.

Manufacturer responsibility

Manufacturers are 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. Manufacturers must submit plans to DEP that describe how they will meet this obligation

Effective date

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 can invoice manufacturers for household computer monitors and televisions received from municipalities beginning January 18, 2006. This means that municipalities are not responsible for the costs of handling and recycling televisions and computer monitors once they are delivered to an in-state consolidation facility.

Maine DEP contact for more information
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

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