New Brunswick to soon establish electronics recycling program

MIRAMICHI (Scrap Monster): The New Brunswick has proposed changes under the Clean Environment Act which would enable creation of an electronics recycling program. The new program is likely to include wide array of electronics including televisions, computers, digital cameras and fax machines. It must be noted that New Brunswick is the only province that currently does not have electronics recycling program in place.

According to Environment Minister Brian Kenny, the proposed program would be similar in operation to the beverage container program. The consumers will be able to dispose their discarded electronic devices at designated depots. There will be a recycling fee for electronic items, he added. The proposed recycling program is expected to divert nearly 3,500 tons of electronic waste from province’s landfills every year. The recycling program would be run by the industry and overseen by Recycle New Brunswick.

Meantime, Conservation Council of New Brunswick stated that it is great to have draft regulations being announced for public comments. According to him, neighboring provinces have been recycling electronics since long time. An electronics recycling program for TVs, cell phones and tablets has been in place since 2008 in NS and since 2010 in PE islands.

The draft regulations of the proposed electronics recycling program was available until July 31^st. The province plans to implement the program by fall of 2016.

To view the draft, please Click Here