SB 621

This bill makes changes to this state's electronic waste recycling program,

known as "E-Cycle Wisconsin," which is administered by the Department of Natural

Resources (DNR).

General program requirements; covered electronic devices

Under the program, a manufacturer may not sell certain consumer electronic

devices to households or schools in this state, or deliver consumer electronic devices

to a retailer, unless the manufacturer registers with DNR each year, pays a

registration fee, and either recycles a certain amount of consumer electronic devices

or pays a shortfall fee. A retailer may not sell certain consumer electronic devices

to households or schools in this state unless the device's manufacturer is registered

under the program. A recycler that receives electronic devices on behalf of a

registered manufacturer must also register under the program and comply with

certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

This bill expands the type of consumer electronic devices covered under the

program to include video game consoles, all video display devices with screens of at

least seven inches measured diagonally, and peripherals, such as keyboards or

speakers, that are sold for external use with a video display device, such as a

television.

Manufacturer target recycling weights

This bill changes the method for calculating a manufacturer's target recycling

weight for a program year.

Under current law, a manufacturer's target recycling weight for a program year

is 80 percent of the weight of electronic devices that the manufacturer sold during

the program year preceding the previous program year.

Under this bill, a manufacturer's total target recycling weight for a program

year is a certain percentage of the total weight of electronic devices that all registered

recyclers received for recycling during the program year preceding the previous

program year. In general, the percentage applied in this calculation for a program

year is the average weight of electronic devices that the manufacturer sold in this

state during a certain two-program-year period, divided by the average weight of

electronic devices sold in this state by all registered manufacturers during that

two-program-year period.

This bill eliminates the existing recycling weight bonus for electronic devices

recycled from rural counties, and instead requires that 10 percent of a

manufacturer's total target recycling weight for a program year consist of electronic

devices recycled from rural counties (target rural county recycling weight).

This bill also requires DNR, at least two months before the beginning of a

program year, to notify each registered manufacturer of its total target recycling

weight and target rural county recycling weight for the upcoming program year.

Manufacturer shortfall fees