Municipal Guide to Maine's Electronic Waste Recycling Law

In the Spring of 2004, Maine passed a new law An Act to Protect the Public Health and the Environment by Providing for a System of Shared Responsibility for the Safe Collection and Recycling of Electronic Waste, (38 MRSA §1610). This law has provisions that apply to Maine municipalities as part of their MSW management responsibilities. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) created this guide to provide municipalities with the information from this law that is relevant to them. A complete copy of the law can be obtained at www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/ewaste or by calling 207-287-2651.

It is illegal to trash your tv

From January 2006 through December 2008, municipalities have recycled more than 14 million pounds of electronics for their residents!

Products covered by this law
Products covered (“covered electronic devices”) are certain electronic wastes generated by households in Maine, including:

• Computer monitors and televisions with cathode ray tubes and flat panel displays greater than four inches (4”) measured diagonally and that contain one or more circuit boards. This includes laptop computers and portable DVD players. Not included are: an automobile, a household appliance, a large piece of commercial or industrial equipment, such as commercial medical equipment, in which the cathode ray tube or flat panel display is contained within and not separate from the larger piece of equipment.
• Computer central processing units (CPUs) - the only requirement for CPUs in this law is that manufacturers affix a permanent label to identify their products.

Municipal responsibilities

Under this law, a municipality’s primary responsibility is to provide residents with a convenient system for collecting waste household computer monitors and televisions for pick up by consolidators who have been approved by DEP to participate in Maine’s household e-waste recycling system. Manufacturers are responsible for paying the consolidators’ costs of handling and recycling and for at least some of the transportation costs. For manufacturers to fully cover the costs of transportation, consolidators need to pick up 16,000 pounds of e-waste from one or more municipal collection sites. If a municipal site cannot collect 16,000 pounds or coordinate pick up with other municipal collection sites to achieve the 16,000 threshold, the consolidators may charge some transportation costs to the municipality.

Options for municipal collection systems include:

• Periodic one-day collection events;
• On-going collection at the municipal transfer station, landfill or local/regional recycling center; and
• On-going collection at a near-by private collection site operated by a consolidator approved to participate in the manufacturer responsibility system.

The collection site contracts for pick up with one of the consolidators approved by Maine DEP to participate in the household e-waste recycling program (a current list is available at www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/ewaste). Municipalities may contract for additional UW handling services with the consolidators, and may incur some costs for the safe management of these additional materials.

To ensure that manufacturers are charged only the cost of recycling household computer monitors, municipalities need to clearly identify which televisions and computer monitors were generated by households. Maine DEP provides local collection sites with lime green stickers that say “MH” (for “Maine Household”) for the collection site operator to place on the screen of each TV or monitor from a household (to obtain these stickers from Maine DEP, call or e-mail Ann Pistell at 287-7703 and at ann.e.pistell@maine.gov). If a facility does not accept business waste, it can simply document on its Universal Waste log that all the TVs and monitors are from households (UW log forms are available from the Maine DEP; contact Ed Vigneault at 207-287-7827 or 207-287-2651 or Ann Pistell).

Maine law prohibits the disposal of cathode ray tubes and mercury lamps (present in flat panel displays), so municipal collection sites must ensure they are recycled.

E-Waste Municipal Collection Sites (MS Excel format) (pdf format) - This is a listing by town of municipal collection sites that accept e-waste (cathode ray tubes and electronic devices) for recycling (it also lists whether the sites accept other types of universal wastes, such as fluorescent lamps and PCB ballasts). The light green blocks signify we were unable to reach anyone in municipal offices.White means we gathered information from those towns. Light Blue means they will take from anyone.

Consolidator responsibilities
Consolidators approved by Maine DEP to participate in the household e-waste recycling program have five basic responsibilities under this law:

1) Coordinate with municipal collection sites to pick up collected household e-waste.
2) Identify the manufacturer of each waste household television and computer monitor and maintain an accounting by manufacturer.
3) Provide the Maine DEP with this accounting of televisions and computer monitors by manufacturer.
4) Invoice the manufacturers for reasonable operational costs associated with the handling, transportation, and recycling costs of the wastes for which each manufacturer is responsible.
5) Ship waste televisions and computer monitors only to dismantlers and recyclers which will provide the consolidation facility with a sworn certification that its handling, processing, refurbishment, and recycling meet environmentally sound management guidelines published by the Maine DEP.

Manufacturer responsibilities
Manufacturers are responsible for the costs of transportation, handling (other than local collection site operating costs) and recycling, of all household-generated waste computer monitors and televisions. Manufacturers must submit plans to DEP that describe how they will meet this obligation, and report to DEP annually.

Effective date
Manufacturer responsibility for the costs of consolidation and recycling of waste household computer monitors and televisions generated by households in Maine began on January 18, 2006.

Training available for collection site operators and managers
Ann Pistell of the DEP offers training in managing UW/E-Waste as part of our Transfer Station Operator Training Program. Contact Ann or Sandy Moody (207-287-7751 or at sandy.j.moody@maine.gov) to find out when the next training will be offered in your area.

Maine DEP contact for more information
MEDEP staff contact for this program is:
Carole Cifrino, Environmental Specialist IV
Division of Solid Waste Management
Bureau of Remediation & Waste Management
Phone: 207-287-7720 Fax: 207-287-7826
E-mail: carole.a.cifrino@Maine.gov

For additional information, please visit our web site at www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/ewaste

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Municipal Guide to Maine's Electronic Waste Recycling Law