Public Act 097-0287 went into effect January 1st, 2012 for the state of Illinois. It updated the Illinois Products Recycling and Reuse Act to cover seventeen electronic products that must be recycled. It also introduced a number of mandates, fees, and deadlines for manufacturers that sell electronics in Illinois (such as recycling 40% of previous years’ sales, by weight).
You can read the full text of the bill by choosing the PDF link from the Illinois General Assembly site.
On electronic waste recycling, the Illinois EPA summary simplifies reading the full bill:
The law establishes a statewide system for recycling and/or reusing the items listed below discarded from residences by requiring electronic manufacturers to participate in the management of discarded and unwanted electronic products.
Televisions
Monitors
Printers
Computers ( laptop, notebook, netbook, tablet, desktop )
Electronic Keyboards
Facsimile Machines
Videocassette Recorders
Portable Digital Music Players
Digital Video Disc Players
Video Game Consoles
Small Scale Servers
Scanners
Electronic Mice
Digital Converter Boxes
Cable Receivers
Satellite Receivers
Digital Video Disc Recorders
With Earth Day tomorrow as a reminder and this law as an enforcement, it’s an important reminder to be compliant and take advantage of electronics recycling events as they pop up or investigate recycling companies around you that may offer recycling electronics for little to no charge. Just don’t put them in the trash where the heavy metals and other chemicals could pollute our land and water supply.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has a list of registered electronics recycling sites. Hopefully you can find one near you the next time you have a computer, TV, or any electronic to get rid of.