Is the dust on your computer toxic?

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Worthwhile only if done correctly

This is another case of the effort being worthwhile but largely misguided, due mostly to the political clout of the big manufacturers. Everything manufactured (not only electronics) that has toxic materials should have a recycling fee imposed on the manufacturer at the point of manufacture (and/or import). The resulting fund is then used only to compensate licensed recycling firms for properly handled items at the time of disposal. Despite the sorry fact that this flies in the face of "free trade agreements" (free for whom?), states rights, etc., one of the largest remaining hurdles to a true free market economy is the effort to make sure that everything sold is priced according to its real, true, and total cost of manufacturing and distribution, and no longer allow manufacturers to hide some of the cost to society associated with their products to be unfairly borne by others. And by putting some economic incentive at the disposal end, we can enable more "enlightened self interest" to address the problem. But imposing "point-of-sale" fees (as with California's Electronic Waste Recycling Act) yet again places the burden of collection and accounting on so many more small businesses who are ill-equiped to deal with it, and it makes enactment and enforcement much more difficult and costly.

Posted by: mdowney   Posted on: 06/05/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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