Laura Greenback, The Examiner
2007-03-09 08:00:00.0
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Annapolis -

The state could increase the amount of money it receives from computer and television manufacturers for recycling their products if a bill before the Maryland General Assembly passes.

“The manufacturers reap a lot of profit. This would make them play a part in coming up with a recycling solution,” said Del. Elizabeth Bobo, D-District 12B, who co-sponsored the bill.

A program requiring the computer manufacturers to pay for recycling was created in 2005, but it only required each company to pay $5,000 to the state for siging up for the program

Last year, about $185,000 was collected as part of the program.

Not all manufacturers have complied with the program, said Robert Stumpff, chairperson of the Maryland Recyclers Coalition, an organization that promotes recycling. The new bill toughens enforcement.

The new bill would include televisions in the plan and require each company to pay $10,000 to sign up for the program.

That could generate an extra $500,000 for the state in 2008, according to a report on the bill that was created by Maryland General Assembly legislative staff.

Every year following, the manufacturers would be required to pay $5,000.

Money that is currently collected is distributed to different county recycling programs through a grant program, Bobo said.

There are approximately 850,000 televisions and 1.2 million computer monitors that are being stored in homes in the state, waiting to be thrown away or recycled, the legislative report stated.

It is bad for the environment for people to place electronics like computers on the curb as trash, and is illegal in some counties in the state, said Stumpff.

Some counties, such as Harford county, have their own facility for recycling electronics, but most depend on annual events where people collect the equipment and take it to a processor, Stumpff said.

Recycling those electronics is a complicated task that can be expensive, said Chaz Miller, director of state programs for the National Solid Waste Management Association, a trade organization that represents solid waste management and recycling companies.

“Recycling in some ways can be an unfunded mandate. It’s not fair to ask local governments to pay to collect this material,” Miller said.

“The proposed changes to the law would benefit the citizens of Maryland,” stated an official statement from the Maryland Department of the Environment.

It would increase the compliance of manufacturers and provide additional funding for recycling, according to the statement.

lgreenback@baltimoreexaminer.com