2010 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Electronic Recycling and Product Stewardship

Retail Council position

Retailers seek statewide, if not national, guidelines and programs for the recycling, reusing, and remanufacturing of certain products - avoiding local jurisdiction variances that render such programs ineffective and costly for the consumer, the merchant, and government agencies. Retailers oppose blanket ‘take-back’ requirements that would find storefronts transformed into recycling centers. Retailers strongly oppose unwarranted consumer fees added at the point-of-sale. 

                                         

The Retail Council opposes local electronic recycling measures, such as New York City’s “Electronic Equipment Collection, Recycling and Reuse Act,” which was formally signed into law in 2008. Local initiatives result in a patchwork of ineffective, confusing guidelines for all stakeholders -  while increasing the cost of consumer products.

                                         

The Retail Council supports legislation creating a state-wide, producer responsibility, electronic recycling program in New York.

Legislative action

The Retail Council supports the following bills active in 2010:

  • A.2648-A9049 (Sweeney)/ S.6047 (Thompson) would establish a producer responsibility-based approach to electronics recycling and would require manufacturers to meet performance standards based on market share and a per capita recycling goal.

  • A.1316 (Colton)/ S.2763 (Marcellino) would establish an electronic recycling program whereas manufacturers would be responsible for submitting a fee based on return share of electronic equipment. •A.27981317 (Colton)/ S.5243995 (Marcellino) would establish an electronic recycling program whereas manufacturers would be responsible for submitting a fee based on market share of electronic equipment.
     

  • The Retail Council supported many parts of the conceptual framework ofopposes A.8444-B (Sweeney)/ S.7563 (Marcellino), which would establish a state-wide electronic recycling program based on producer responsibility, but ultimately opposed the bill due to the7571 (Sweeney)/ S.2512 (Thompson) for its far- reaching and unworkable performance standards that would hold manufacturers responsible for the recycling habits of consumers.

At a glance

  • New York State’s retailers want to work with state and local agencies, as well as product manufacturers, to ensure environmental protections and an appropriate role for the merchant community. At the same time, national retailers are working with affected manufacturers and related parties to ensure the development of national guidelines that will lead to effective environmental protection policies, rather than patchwork state-by-state regulations that may be impossible to coordinate.

     

  • No stakeholder - retailer, manufacturer, or governmental entity - can afford to coordinate or administer multiple programs in multiple localities.
  • Retailers oppose requirements that would force them to accept products for return, reuse, recycling, and/or remanufacturing. Retailers similarly oppose unwarranted fees added on to the cost of electronics and other products at the point-of-sale.

 

  • Retail stores - particularly those with limited square footage and storage space for products that they put on their shelves - are not built to serve as reclamation centers. Such space constraints would be exacerbated by the new requirements foisted upon store associates.

 

  • Consumer education remains the cornerstone of any successful effort to develop workable, effective recycling and reuse programs. Simply requiring retailers to accept products on a take-back basis removes all responsibility from the consumer who has enjoyed the use of the product for indefinite periods of time and, as mentioned above, presents unprecedented operational challenges to merchants of every size.