Industry confronts Illinois CRT glass storage bill

CHICAGO (Scrap Monster): The representatives from R2 and e-Stewards have challenged the legality of the proposed Illinois bill that limits the role of these accrediting organizations. According to them, House Bill 6321 (HB 6321) and its companion Senate Bill 2770 (SB 2770) attempts to rewrite the R2 standard. It is feared that the passage of the bills would lead to significant reduction in value of the standard that has been diligently developed over many years of hard work by many people.

As per the prevailing Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act, all recycling and refurbishment facilities associated with the manufacturer-funded program must have to be accredited by R2, e-Stewards or any other equivalent certifications programs recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Under the new bill, facilities that place CRT glasses in storage cells for future retrieval are not required to obtain certification. The bill also prohibits imposing penalty or proceeding with legal action against such recyclers, refurbishers and collectors based on their use of storage facility.

Meantime, Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI), which administers the R2 standard has initiated email campaign to garner support for the online petition requesting Illinois legislators from rewriting the R2 standard. According to them, the bill sets a disastrous precedent for allowing legislators in all 50 states, as well as lawmakers in other countries with R2 certified companies, to create their own versions of the R2 standard. It further notes that passage of the bill would be the beginning of the end of the R2 standard.

The HB 6321 in the Illinois House of Representatives is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth, whereas SB 2770 in the Senate is sponsored by Democratic Sen. David Koehler, who also presently chairs the Environment and Conservation Committee. Both legislators are from Peoria, where the storage cell placement is occurring.