We live in an ever growing world of obsolescence technologies and our basements and attics are stuffed with our old TVs, computers, stereos, printers and anything else that is electronic. For years people either dumped their old electronics in the garbage which I hope we all know by now is a terrible mistake that is poisonous to our environment. So don’t do it! You know who you are! Anyway thankfully stuffing our old tech junk in a dark corner of our home to be forgotten is no longer the only option for a lot of states.
Just in the last five years there have been new laws put into motion in eighteen different states that have made available tech trash recycling a priority. The great thing about these new laws is the the funding responsibility for these programs is being put back in the hands of the manufactures of the obsolescence technologies, which I would wholeheartedly agree with. After all they are the companies that keep upgrading their technologies for example the recent move to an all digital signal for television which renders probably a few hundred million TVs as out dated and tech trash.
As great as the new wave of laws for e-waste are we still have a long way to go and as more states bring in their own interpretation of a e-waste law it becomes more and more difficult for electronic manufacturers to keep up with each states requirements. There does seem to be a growing movement especially by manufacturers to have a uniform national e-waste law which to me would be a no brainer. Getting a national law passed of course is a whole other process that could take years in the political arena.
Thankfully there are a lot of major manufacturers that have taken the task of recycling the tech trash upon themselves. For example Best Buy holds recycling events across the country where people can bring in their old electronics for drop off at specified stores and days. Also there is a pretty comprehensive list of links at the Environmental Protection Agency that can point you in the right direction to clear out that dark corner of your room where you store all your tech trash.
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