Changes to the electronic waste recycling program and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

Under the bill, DNR must calculate each manufacturer's target recycling weight for the upcoming year and notify each manufacturer of its target by the August 1 prior to the year in which the target will apply. Under the bill, DNR must first determine a manufacturer's market share percentage by dividing the weight of electronic devices the manufacturer sold to households or covered schools in this state during the previous year (the year that began two years before the beginning of the year in which the target recycling weight will apply) by the total weight of all manufacturers' covered electronic devices sold to households or covered schools in this state during the same program year. DNR then multiplies this percentage by the total weight of electronic devices collected in this state by recyclers during the previous year (the year that began two years before the beginning of the year in which the target recycling weight will apply).

Manufacturer reporting Currently, a manufacturer must annually report to DNR the total weight of all of its electronic devices sold to households or covered schools in this state during the year that began two years before the beginning of the year in which the report is made. The bill changes this to require reporting of this weight from the previous year.

Eligible electronic devices Under current law, only eligible electronic devices that are collected by a recycler may be counted towards a manufacturer's target recycling weight. “Eligible electronic device” is defined to include devices such as consumer computers, consumer video display devices, and peripherals. “Peripheral” is defined to mean devices that are sold for external use with a consumer computer and that provide input into or output from a consumer computer.

This bill changes the definition of a “peripheral” to include devices that are sold for external use with a consumer video display device and that provide input into or output from a consumer video display device. The bill therefore includes these devices in the definition of “eligible electronic device.” Good faith progress toward a target recycling weight Current law provides that, if a manufacturer makes a good faith effort towards meeting its target recycling weight in a given year, but does not meet its target, DNR may waive the requirement for the manufacturer to pay a shortfall fee for that year.

The bill requires DNR to promulgates rules establishing what constitutes good faith in this context.

Manufacturer fees Under current law, a manufacturer's annual registration fee is $5,000 if it sold at least 500 covered electronic devices (consumer video display devices, consumer computers, or consumer printers) in this state during the previous year and $1,250 if the manufacturer sold at least 250 but fewer than 500 covered electronic devices.

Under the bill, a manufacturer's annual registration fee is $5,500 if it sold at least 550 covered electronic devices in this state during the previous year and $2,500 if the manufacturer sold at least 250 but fewer than 550 covered electronic devices.

Under current law, which is unchanged under the bill, manufacturers that sell fewer than 250 devices in a year do not pay a registration fee.