Maryland adopts electronics recycling law

May 13 -- Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has signed the nation´s third electronics recycling law, requiring manufacturers to offer free computer take-back programs or pay the state a fee.

House Bill 575 will go into effect July 1. It allows counties to develop electronic waste recycling plans and establishes the Statewide Computer Recycling Pilot Program, which the state Department of the Environment´s Office of Recycling will administer.

On Jan. 1, manufacturers selling more than 1,000 computers in the state will have to pay an initial $5,000 registration fee. They must then establish a computer take-back program to recover their systems at no cost to the consumers. Manufacturers with acceptable take-back programs, and that properly label their computers with their name, will pay a $500 registration fee in subsequent years.

Those that do not establish a recovery and recycling program or do not label their computers properly will continue to pay an annual $5,000 registration fee.

The law, May 10, also requires the DEP to study the effectiveness of the program and public health impacts of disposing of and recycling cathode ray tubes by Dec. 1, 2008. The electronics recycling law will sunset Dec. 31, 2010.