Upfront computer disposal fees may be on the way up

Call it a burial plan for your personal computer.

Proposed legislation would expand the notion of paying for the demise of your new computer before you make the first keystroke.

Several years ago, California tacked a $6 to $10 fee on the sale of computer monitors to bolster recycling efforts.

Now the target is the computer's innards -- its central processing unit, or "tower," that interprets instructions and handles data.

Assembly Bill 1535 would charge a $6 fee on each of the millions of computer processing units sold in California each year.

Disposal fees could be a wave of the future, with environmentalists eyeing similar charges for scanners, printers and fax machines.

Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said consumers are becoming increasingly aware of health dangers posed by toxic waste. Lead, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals in many electronics products have been linked to cancer, kidney and other health problems.

"More and more, we're starting to connect these global environmental problems with the choices that we make as consumers and businesses," said Huffman, who crafted AB 1535.

The disposal fee is designed to bolster the number of recyclers accepting personal computers, which are classified as hazardous waste.

"It's illegal to throw them away, but you can't conveniently recycle them," Huffman said.

Critics counter that government intervention is unnecessary because recycling computer circuit boards, metals and wiring already is profitable.

"Recyclers are jumping over themselves to get this material," said Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton. "Why hurt consumers for something that's already happening?"

David Wolfe of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association agreed.

"Why are we increasing government when private industry has done the job?" Wolfe asked. "It doesn't make sense to me."

Mark Murray of Californians Against Waste, which is sponsoring AB 1535, countered that too few private recyclers exist to adequately serve the market.

The proposed fee would generate an estimated $48 million annually to encourage more outlets and, thus, more convenient disposal opportunities.

For consumers buying both a computer and a monitor, the current fee plus the proposed one would total $12 to $16, depending on the display screen's size.

Laptops and other all-in-one computers, which contain both a monitor and processor, would not be subject to the AB 1535 fee.

Californians are barred from tossing personal computers into trash bins, so millions languish in garages and on closet shelves, Murray said.

"You would have multiple other places to take them," he said.

About 8 million personal computers are sold each year in California, and roughly 50 percent of them are replacement units, Murray said.

Statistics are not readily available on the percentage of personal computers that currently are being recycled without a disposal fee.

Murray said that less than 10 percent of all consumer electronic devices, which include personal computers, are recycled.

In Sacramento, neither the city nor the county charges consumers extra for disposal of obsolete personal computers.

At Sacramento County waste facilities, residents with a PC are charged the same $5-per-car fee applied to routine trash, spokesman Zeke Holst said.

Sacramento city residents can dispose of PCs at no charge through the municipal Neighborhood Clean Up Program, said city spokeswoman Amy Williams.

Hewlett-Packard Co., the computer manufacturer, opposes AB 1535, saying the company offers extensive recycling programs and feels the electronics industry can fill any gap without a disposal fee.

Slapping a new fee onto computers would increase the incentive to buy electronic products out of state, the California Chamber of Commerce said in a letter opposing AB 1535.

The legislation, pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, is supported by Sierra Club California, the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties, among others.

Bill Magavern, of Sierra Club California, said Internet sales would be covered by AB 1535 and that a consumer backlash is unlikely. "I think a $6 fee on an expensive product like a computer is probably not going to cause somebody to want to evade state law," he said.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Jim Sanders can be reached at (916) 326-5538 or jsanders@sacbee.com.