The Joint House-Senate Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing March 21 on the collapse of Pennsylvania’s Electronic Waste Recycling Program created by the Covered Device Recycling Act.

The tentative agenda for the hearing includes comments from (click on Testimony for available written testimony)--

-- Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester) the prime sponsor of the 2010 Covered Device Recycling Act;

-- Ken Reisinger, DEP Deputy Secretary for Waste, Air, Radiation and Remediation;

-- Walter Alcorn, Consumer Electronics Association (manufacturers:; Testimony. Attachment: Customer Survey. Attachment: CRT Capacity;

-- Ned Eldridge, CEO of eLoop LLC, an electronics recycler from Western PA: Testimony;

-- David Vollero, York County Solid Waste Authority: Testimony;

-- Bekki Titchner, Recycling & Solid Waste Coordinator, Elk County: Testimony;

-- Shannon Reiter, President,  Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful: Testimony; and

-- Bob Bylone, President & CEO, and Michele Nestor, President, Nestor Resources Inc, Board Chair, PA Recycling Markets Center: Testimony.

The Joint Committee will also be accepting written comments on electronics waste recycling until June 21.  Send comments to Mike Nerozzi by email to: mnerozzi@jcc.legis.state.pa.us.

Background

The PA Resources Council has reported only 25 percent of state residents have access to free TV recycling, down from 63 percent just a short time ago, and that coverage continues to shrink.  In the last 2 years PRC said--

-- Goodwill announced it will no longer accept TVs for recycling;

-- Five counties around Philadelphia report they were forced to suspend electronics programs because no recyclers were willing to support them;

-- Construction Junction in Pittsburgh closed its doors to accepting electronics;

-- York County shuts down all electronics collections sites;

-- eLoop, a Pittsburgh-based recycler, announces it will no longer offer CDRA-supported recycling in western PA; and

-- Best Buy issues a news release announcing it will no longer accept TVs for recycling at its 37 PA stores.

The lack of recycling opportunities and the ban on landfill disposal means more Pennsylvanians may resort to illegal dumping.

Keep PA Beautiful wrote to every House and Senate member earlier in February warning 2016 could be a “record-breaking year for abandoned and dumped electronics” if Pennsylvania’s electronics recycling law isn’t fixed.

Just 2 weeks ago, Keep PA Beautiful launched a new electronics waste recycling website to give consumers more information on the issue and where they can recycle TVs.

In January the Electronics Recycling Association of PA, representing e-waste recyclers,  called for action to fix the state’s recycling law saying without fundamental changes recycling opportunities will continue to disappear.

Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester), the original sponsor of the e-waste recycling law, is planning to introduce changes to the law to try to get it back on track.

Click Here for the PRC action flyer on e-waste recycling.

The Committee hearing will be in Room 8E-A East Wing of the Capitol starting at 9:00.  Click Here the day of the hearing for a link to the live webcast of the hearing.

Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) serves as Chair of the Joint Committee.  To sign up for a monthly update from the Joint Committee, send an email to: mnerozzi@jcc.legis.state.pa.us.

For more information on e-waste recycling, visit DEP’s Covered Device Recycling Act webpage.

NewsClips:

Keep PA Beautiful Launches New E-Waste Website

Editorial: Anti-Keystone Landfill Group’s Growth

Related Stories:

2014 DEP Report To General Assembly Documented Problems With E-Waste Recycling

Analysis: Electronics Recycling Effort Shrinking In PA, The Law Needs To Be Fixed

Keep PA Beautiful Launches New Electronics Waste Recycling Website

3/21/2016