Legislation
Responding
to growing public concern over hazardous materials, information
security, and computer obsolescence, Federal regulators have
spearheaded a flurry of legislation addressing computer recycling
and disposal. The earliest laws can be traced to CERCLA (1980),
which provided broad authority over hazardous substances that may
endanger public health or the environment. HIPAA(1996) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley
(1999) established standards for the stewardship of personal or
private information. More recently, the Wyden-Talent e-waste
Recycling Bill Act (2005) promotes recycling through tax credits and
retail surcharges on new PC purchases to offset the EOL disposal
costs.
Relevant legislation regarding hazardous materials, information security, and computer obsolescence:
New State E-Scrap Programs:A Business Opportunity Or A Business Bust For Processors?
The Hard Facts of State Electronics Recycling Programs
HIPAA: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act enacted in 1996 includes provisions to safeguard the privacy of patient health records. The HIPAA rules apply to all protected health information whether it is kept electronically, on paper, or communicated orally. Hospitals, individual doctors, pharmacies, and other businesses involved in the healthcare industry are currently in the process of designing procedures that will comply with the new HIPAA rules.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), signed into law by President Clinton, has drastically changed the way financial institutions conduct business. With this law, many responsibilities have been placed upon the institutions to protect the customers’ nonpublic personal information. Under this law, even businesses with a single employee are responsible for shredding or burning personnel files.
FACTA: The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 requires businesses to destroy employee and consumer records containing personal information instead of simply tossing documents in the trash.
Schumer-Nelson ID Theft Bill: Would regulate companies that sell personal data, setting rules to prevent fraudulent access to information and requiring companies to disclose breaches in their security and the sale of personal information.
Notification of Risk to Personal Data Bill: A broader, nationwide version of California’s security-breach law that carries tougher penalties for offending companies. Proposed by Senator Diane Feinstein of California.
State-specific Enacted Identity Theft Legislation: Various U.S. states have enacted or amended state laws to address the rapidly growing crime of identity theft. In 2004 alone, 18 states enacted identity theft legislation. The State of Georgia, for example, signed a new identity theft bill into law, State Bill 475, in May 2002. This law makes it a crime for any business to discard personal information unless it first “shreds, erases, modifies” and makes “reasonably” sure no one will have access to it before it is destroyed.
California’s Notice of Security Breach Law: If any company or agency that has collected the personal information of a California resident discovers that non-encrypted information has been taken by an unauthorized person, the company or agency must tell the resident. Compliance required 2003. (Some 30 other states are considering similar laws.)
The Wyden-Talent e-waste Recycling Bill Act of 2005: Establish an $8-per-piece tax credit for companies that recycle at least 5000 monitors or computer units per year. Individuals who use qualified recyclers to dispose of computers or TV sets would receive $15 tax credit. The bill would also prohibit the disposal of any electronic equipment containing a display screen greater than 4 inches or any computer system in a municipal solid-waste landfill, beginning three years after the bill is passed.
The Problem
Electronic
waste has become one of the fastest growing segments of the waste
stream generated by the United States. In 2006 alone, CCR
itself has recycled approximately 3,497,340 lbs of e-waste.
The significant pace of technological advancement is contributing to the exponential growth in electronic waste. As a result, legislative, business, and environmental pressures are forcing corporations to implement disciplined IT disposal and recycling solutions.
Classic Computer Recovery focuses on the recycling of electronic equipment, to assist the EPA in lowering the hazardous material impact from this type of equipment. For example, in Florida, it has been determined that 40% of the lead found in municipal solid waste comes from computer monitors and televisions, as reported by Irene Gleason of the Florida EPA.
As
with other states, Classic Computer Recovery supplies CERTIFICATES &
VENDOR CONTRACTS that show the equipment is being recycled or
disposed of safely per EPA approved methods. According to a report,
Electronics Recycling: What to Expect from Global Mandates, “nearly
30 countries may have electronics take-back laws on the books within
the next five years. In the U.S., electronics manufacturers are
trying to work with environmentalists, municipal officials, and the
solid waste and recycling industries to develop a recycling and
disposal system for electronic appliances.”
Classic Computer Recovery is already focusing on these efforts of disposal.
Our sales team finds markets for product through the Internet and resellers which extends the useful life of the product. Most of our product is put back into use in the U.S. through non-public school systems and/or corporations, and computer dealers who resell used equipment. When product is not usable, it is recycled to reclaim the Materials by product category (ie. Plastic, Metal, Glass, Circuit Boards, etc.).
