[greenyes] Comments on electronics recycling sought from US Dept of Commerce

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

For your information, the US Department of Commerce is soliciting comments
until Wednesday, October 27, 2004 on electronics collection and recycling,
as noted below.

John 

...............................................
Technology Administration
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Request for Comments on Electronics Recycling  
AGENCY:
Technology Administration, Department of Commerce 
ACTION:
Notice, Request for Comments 
SUMMARY:
The Technology Administration (TA) publishes this notice to solicit comments
on the following specific issues regarding electronics recycling: (1)
definition of covered products; (2) collection and the role of government in
collection; (3) financing collection, transportation and recycling,
financing for orphan products, financing historical products versus future
products, and the role of government, the electronics industry, and
intermediaries in financing; and (4) the role of the federal government in
creating a national recycling plan. This solicitation is intended to give
those who were unable to comment at the September 21, 2004 roundtable on
electronics recycling, entitled Technology Recycling: Achieving Consensus
for Stakeholders, an opportunity to submit a statement regarding these
issues.
DATES:
Comments and statements should be received by the Technology Administration
no later than October 27, 2004, in order to receive consideration. 
ADDRESSES:
Electronic statements are preferred, but written comments will be accepted.
Please submit your comments electronically to technologyrecycling@no.address
<mailto:technologyrecycling@no.address> either in Microsoft Word (specify
version) or WordPerfect (version 5 or 6, specify version). 
Paper submissions should include an electronic copy of the comments on a
diskette in one of the formats specified above. Mail to Laureen Daly, Office
of Technology Policy, Technology Administration HCHB 4817, 1401 Constitution
Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Direct questions to technologyrecycling@no.address or call Laureen Daly at
(202) 482-0336. 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background:

The Technology Administration, Office of Technology Policy held a roundtable
on September 21, 2004 entitled Technology Recycling: Achieving Consensus for
Stakeholders, that included representatives of electronics manufacturers,
retailers, recyclers, and environmental organizations. At the roundtable,
participants discussed that: (1) a list of products for recycling should be
limited to a small number of items to start with, such as cathode ray tubes
and flat panel monitors over a certain size, and have a timetable for
expansion of the list; (2) a collection process may include but should not
mandate participation from retailers, local governments, manufacturers and
third parties; (3) there exists several different financing models including
extended producer responsibility and an advanced recovery fee, as well as
financing the recycling of orphan products and transportation from
collection to recyclers; and (4) there exists a need for a national approach
as opposed to a state-by-stat e approach. The purpose of the roundtable was
to obtain information for a report on electronics recycling that will be
released in 2005.