AB 297

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

program, known as “E-Cycle Wisconsin," which is administered by the Department

of Natural Resources.

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.

The bill expands the definition of a school, for purposes of the program, to

include all public elementary or secondary schools, including charter schools; all

private elementary or secondary schools; and all tribal schools. The bill also narrows

the types of consumer printers that are covered under the program.

Under current law, a manufacturer in the program must ordinarily pay a

registration fee with its annual registration, based on the number of electronic

devices it sold in the state during the previous year. The bill raises the threshold for

requiring a manufacturer to pay a registration fee. Under the bill, a manufacturer's

registration fee is $5,000 if it sold at least 500 electronic devices in this state during

the previous program year, and $1,250 if it sold at least 250 but fewer than 500

electronic devices. There is no registration fee if the manufacturer sold fewer than

250 electronic devices during the previous program year.

Under current law, a manufacturer must report certain information to DNR

when it submits its annual registration under the program. This bill requires

manufacturers, when reporting the total weight of electronic devices recycled by or

on behalf of the manufacturer each year, to also report the weight of devices collected

from rural counties separately from devices collected from urban counties.

Under current law, every year a registered recycler must report to DNR the

total weight of electronic devices the recycler received from a registered

manufacturer for recycling during the previous program year. This bill requires a

recycler, in its annual report, to also separate this total weight into different

categories, depending on the type of device and whether the device contains a

cathode-ray tube. The bill also requires a recycler to report the estimated weight of

certain materials, such as cathode-ray tube glass, metals, and plastics, that the

recycler derived from the electronic devices it received during the previous program

year.

Finally, under current law, a program year runs from July 1 to the following

June 30. This bill creates an 18-month transition period (transition year) that runs