California residents must recycle dead gadgets

If you live in California, don't even think of tossing that obsolete cellphone, dead laptop or archaic printer into the trash. New state laws that go into effect next month require that all electronic waste be recycled, rather than dumped in the trash and shipped to landfills. (Of course, you can always do what we do, and preserve every gadget you've ever owned in a personal museum in the basement.) In 2003, according to the state, 515,000 tons of electronics were dumped into California landfills; 44% of the waste (by volume) consisted of CRTs and TV sets; the rest, we assume, consisted of first generation iPods with dead batteries. California's laws are designed to stem the spread of mercury and other toxins; the environmental rules have been in effect for businesses for four years, but are now being extended to consumers as well.

[D @ Jan 24th 2006 5:07PM]

What a pointless un-enforceable law.

[Nick @ Jan 24th 2006 5:31PM]

Uh oh. That quip about dead 1G iPods will open the door for the Haters to come into the Comments to spread their FUD.

[Qubit @ Jan 24th 2006 5:39PM]

How much money will they pay us to recycle old gadgets? If its not worth the money to some people, why would they even bother; trash cans are big enough to fit an entire computer case and monitor.

Are they gonna search through your trash to make sure you are not tossing a cell phone away?

lol, I just opened up the article, "JUNK MUST BE BROUGHT TO SITES, BUT POLICY WON'T BE ENFORCED". We pay legislation to write laws that have no purpose?

[dpinder @ Jan 24th 2006 5:40PM]

they should make this mandatory for all states.

[Chris @ Jan 24th 2006 6:09PM]

I worked for one of the 'recycling' centers, and a suprizing number of the items we processed were still in good working condition. Most of the computers were sent to people in the underpriviledged bracket of technology, or to third world countries where a 233mhz machine is hot stuff.

It's also funny to note that a lot of buisnesses tried to get around the ~$10 processing fee we charged by dumping their things there during the night, and hightailing it away. (Ironically, they paid more, since we called the police and they were tracked down and forced to pay a higher fine.)

[travis @ Jan 24th 2006 6:10PM]

Un-Enforcable? Probably. Pointless? I would say no. You know, Im not a tree-hugger or anything like that, and I dont believe in the extremes that some of these people go to, but why is this such a big deal? Its not like it costs anything to recycle. The gas for the trip, thats it, and yes gas is more expensive in these times, but really...how many devices do you go through in a given amount of time? Is it really that much of a hassle to help out the environment?

[MT @ Jan 24th 2006 6:12PM]

While the law is un-enforceable, the knowledge generating power of the law isn't. It's a bit like a city/state/country passing a resolution about something. They can't act on it but its how they feel.

[rip @ Jan 24th 2006 6:25PM]

This law is a whole lot better than the idiotic hybrids (Japanese only) get to drive in the hov lane law.

Unlike that law, this law actually has some merit.

[Brian Flowers @ Jan 24th 2006 6:26PM]

I'll recycle 'em for you! ...with my soldering iron! :)
I'm environmentally friendly! ...except all the lead and other chemicals in the solder...and the electricity to run the iron...and...yea... :P

[sk07 @ Jan 24th 2006 6:35PM]

"New state laws that go into effect next month require that all electronic waste be recycled"

I sure hope theyre more specific than that. A LOT of things could be considered 'electronic waste'. Batteries, flashlights, disposible cameras, McDonald's toys, pocket dictionarys, usb flash drives, perhaps even floppy diskettes etc etc etc are ALL electronis in some way

[Todd @ Jan 24th 2006 6:38PM]

It's too bad that most homes in California don't have basements.

[atticus @ Jan 24th 2006 6:39PM]

Pointless? Are you serious? That attitude is exactly why our landfills are reaching capacity years before they were expected to.

[D @ Jan 24th 2006 7:14PM]

BFD, dig another hole.

[matt nicklin @ Jan 24th 2006 7:28PM]

I am prety sure they have had this law3 for a while. I know if you had a CRT monitor you had to take it to a ewaste recycleing center.

[THE MAC GOD @ Jan 24th 2006 8:03PM]

Too bad... Recycling actually causes more environmental problems than not... First and foremost, around 45% of everything you send to recycle gets dumped anyway. Second, it's a manufacturing process... Huge, polluting trucks have to come through, again, to pick up the stuff (half of which is dumped anyway, remember), then it's taken to the plant where it's turned into a goo via a chemcal process (yummy!) and re-applied to something else. The ONLY thing that's cost effective to recycle is aluminum cans... Everything else is cheaper to just manufacture a new one (whatever it is). Most recycling plants in the US are subsidized by the Gov't, meaning you pay for it whether you want to or not.

Oh, BTW, recycling DOESN'T save trees. We have tree farms for that. That's why we have 10 times the amount of trees now than we did at the start of the 20th century. Minor details most people unfortunately don't know.

[Jak Crow @ Jan 24th 2006 8:10PM]

So heavier recycling laws, and no additional facilities to take this stuff to? Awesome!

[D @ Jan 24th 2006 8:20PM]

Exactly. http://www.williams.edu/HistSci/curriculum/101/garbage.html

[THE MAC GOD @ Jan 24th 2006 8:29PM]

Also, to address atticus, actually landfills aren't overflowing. It was blown out of proportion when the Mobro 4000 couldn't find a place to dump its' trash. What the rabid media didn't mention was that it was a guy trying to save money taking New York trash to a Louisiana landfill and decided to stop up and down the east coast because it was closer. Everyone saw that as 'we are running out of space' when that's definitely not the case. Because of that, the EPA made a document entitled "The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action" that pretty much said we had to recycle now or we'd be overcome by trash.

A 35 square mile hole 200 feet deep would take care of our (US) needs for 1000 years. Also, the methane produced from a dump can be channeled and used to power houses or ANYTHING... like many dumps do NOW, btw. The largest dump in California powers 60,000 houses (and on for 30 years) from the methane produced from just that single DUMP. Recycling in no way produces power like that and, in fact, is more leechlike when it comes to power.

The simple fact is that the recycling industry creates pollution, has to be subsidized by the government because it's cost ineffective, and is completely unnecessary.

[Dave @ Jan 24th 2006 8:36PM]

Don't mind the trolls. This is a good idea, and should be implemented everywhere. Enforce-ability isn't the issue, responsibility is.

[Qubit @ Jan 24th 2006 8:49PM]

Spread the word to recycle your electronics, not that hard to do... But to write a law that is not even going to be inforced? Does legislation have nothing better to do? Instead of passing the law, why didn't they just try to get the word out you can recycle your electronics, and where you can... Either way, theres no difference I guess...

btw, If the landfills are filling up, make more landfills, burn the garbage, or send it into space (maybe not a good idea seeing how inefficient NASA is).

[granny down east @ Jan 24th 2006 9:12PM]

Look, guys, recycle your mercury or dump it in a 35 sq mile hole, I don't care- but PLEEZ don't throw your batteries and old phones under my dock, 'cause I eat the fish that live there.
...at least three times a week. No I don't glow in the dark yet.

[evo @ Jan 24th 2006 9:16PM]

OK, I know it's tough, but instead of spouting off misinformed half-truths about recycling vs. not recycling, let's everyone just go read Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte. Problems on both sides of the issue are not nearly as clear cut as you think.

As for one specific comment above: Technology recycling is unfortunately a major problem, not a solution. Most "recycled" technology sent to developing countries ends up in their landfills, where toxic substances leech into their water systems far more easily than they do here in the U.S. (though it happens in the U.S. also--all landfills leak, though more slowly when designed to account for it).

[Mark @ Jan 24th 2006 9:36PM]

CA has had an Ewaste fee since the beginning of July '05. The news today focuses more on plain 'ol batteries. No longer can you throw watch, hearing aid, AA's, AAA's, etc away. A pointless law. Sure, I'll think about it while I'm tossing 2 AA's in the trash, but the nearest recycling facility (that will take e-waste) to me is more than 20 minutes away. I'm not taking an hour and a gallon of gas to save two batteries. What is worse? The pollution to get them disposed of, or the mercury in the middle of a dump that probably won't be built on or near until I well dead and gone?

[hachu @ Jan 24th 2006 10:03PM]

All the talk about "digging another hole" and "recycling costs energy" seem to ignore the fact that the majority of electronics right now contain materials you don't want to stick into the ground.

There are 3 categories of materials:
1) Stuff you can grind up and use again easily like fiberglass from circuit boards and plastic from casings. If you don't feel like sorting it, melt it all together and use as low grade plastic like trash cans.
2) Stuff that is poisonous and you want to extract because it sucks to drink it. That and being hazardous, it most likely cost extra energy in terms of effort put into safety to create.
3) Stuff that is just plain valuable. Did you know that for the first generation Pentium chips, Intel DIPPED (as opposed to plated) the top of the package in gold? I'm willing to bet that melting a few Pentiums is cheaper than to mine it from the ground)

[kev @ Jan 24th 2006 10:33PM]

Some people can't think. We don't have unlimited resources on this planet. If you just dispose of everything then what will future generations of devices run with? You need everything, especially copper, which is precious in the electronics world as crude oil is to transportation sector.

[Eric @ Jan 24th 2006 10:33PM]

Don't buy the argument that third world countries are thrilled to get old equipment.

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-844195.html

[D @ Jan 24th 2006 11:15PM]

Kev, let the free market do its job. When it becomes more cost efficient to recycle than to dig more copper out of the ground, companies would be stupid not to.

[Finished.Law.School @ Jan 25th 2006 12:22AM]

Do mexicans count as gadgets and therefore fall under the umbrella of enforcement of this law?

[greg @ Jan 25th 2006 12:49AM]

@Travis,

"Its not like it costs anything to recycle."

Actually, here in WA we get charged $15 per CRT monitor to take and recycle, and we can't throw them away. So instead we just surplus them for like $5 per palette to someone who probably just turns around and throws most of them away. Then again, it is a state agency.

[Steve D. @ Jan 25th 2006 12:59AM]

Welcome to the State of Organized Confusion.

[Long @ Jan 25th 2006 12:59AM]

#23 Sure, I'll think about it while I'm tossing 2 AA's in the trash, but the nearest recycling facility (that will take e-waste) to me is more than 20 minutes away.

You can recycle batteries and cell phones at certain stores like Radioshack. They will accept them and then recycle them or donate to charities. The cell phones are supposed to go to organizations that help abused women have a cell phone for emergencies. You can also get tax break for donating your cell phone.

I think the law is good because it will make people be aware. If you found out that there is a law outlawing throwing away batteries, then you might be more willing to buy rechargeable batteries. Its just like those laws the government passed about dumping oil, paint and other chemicals down the gutter. Eventually you realize that you should take it to a recycling center or places like Kragen to dispose of the stuff.

[zoara @ Jan 25th 2006 8:01AM]

The attitudes displayed in this thread sadden me.

I hate to sound tree-hugger, but we're killing the planet here, guys. Can't we at least change the attitude a little? Recycling may cost more money, but what price your descendents' environment.

Oh, and I get the impression that doorstep recycling schemes aren't common in [average Engadget reader's home country] then? Here in Wales we have black bins (er, trash cans) for rubbish, and blue bins for recycling. Oh, and brown for garden waste which I believe is recycled as fertiliser/compost.

It takes no extra time or effort on our behalf, and the same guys pick all the stuff up. For those that don't have doorstep pickups, the local supermarkets always have recycle bins, so you drop off the recycling when you pick up the groceries.

Something like 40% of our county's waste is recycled.

[lupinstel @ Jan 25th 2006 9:11AM]

Until they have convenient recycling centers that don't cost us $30 for every device we want to recycle, not many people are going to do this. This is why I have a dead CRT sitting in my living room.

[dpinder @ Jan 25th 2006 9:15AM]

#28

This comment should be taken down.

[Marochka_Raduga @ Jan 25th 2006 5:03PM]

#34, why do you believe #28's comment should be taken down? Or do you only believe in free speech when it's speech you agree with?

[kev @ Jan 25th 2006 8:20PM]

Heh, well this is a world run by businesses and lawyers, so I give D props for pointing out the painful truth.

What's so bad about #28 anyway?

[TC @ Jan 25th 2006 10:44PM]

Great! This will merely quadruple the amount of electronic junk and household furnishings (along with motor oil, paint cans, and car batteries) people already leave randomly on San Francisco sidewalks because they are too cheap to pay for garbage pickup or too lazy to dispose of properly.

[Computer Tech Support @ Jan 26th 2006 12:20AM]

#25, funny you should talk about the gold... There are actually groups of people who go to the dump, collect motherboards and what not, and process the small amounts of gold out of them and actually make gold bricks.

Here's an article: http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2003/06/16/smallb1.html

You can also search google for "gold from computers", etc.

Takes alot of work, but if you have the time and like the dump, why not? haha.

And for the people complaining about recycling them... don't you have a recycle bin at home? Here in california we get a black one for trash, green for recycle, and brown for lawn/plant debris... it's not too hard to just put it in another can.... unless they are going to force us to drive to a place to recycle them, then that is just nuts. No way I'm going to care that much about recycling electronics until the government cares a bit more about the price of gas here. lol.