Public hearing to be held on changes to Washington’s E-Cycle program

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The Washington State Department of Ecology has decided to conduct a public hearing on the proposed changes to E-Cycle Washington. The hearing will begin at 2 PM Thursday, December 3^rd at Ecology’s Lacey offices, 300 Desmond Dr. SE.

The Department of Ecology proposes to amend Chapter 173-900 WAC - Electronic Products Recycling Program. The purpose of this proposal is to revise the rules to address changes made to the underlying law (RCW 70.95N) by the 2013 Legislature. The public comments on the rule updates will be accepted through December 10^th. The comments will be reviewed and an adoption package for the revision of rules will be prepared on December 11^th. The effective date of the adopted rule is estimated at around end-March next year.

Updates to the rule would require additional reporting on the types of material recovered through E-Cycle, such as the glass from cathode ray tubes, circuit boards, and batteries. It would also use market share as the base to determine each manufacturer’s responsibility with respect to funding of the program. The updates also ensure that consumers are given information on how and where to recycle electronics when purchasing a TV, computer or other electronic product.

E-Cycle Washington is a free program that provides responsible recycling of computers (including laptop and “tablet” PCs), monitors, TVs, portable DVD players and e-readers. E-Cycle Washington is a collaborative effort between electronics manufacturers, The Washington State Department of Ecology, local governments, retailers of electronics and non-profit organizations. E-Cycle Washington provides free of charge recycling to households, small businesses, school districts, small governments and charities through a chain of authorized collection sites.