Apr 25 - Eggman Bill Would Expand Market for CRT Glass

Despite increased e-waste recycling by consumer electronics companies in 2012, industry leaders admit there is still a great need to expand the market for CRT glass.

According to a story in Environmental Leader, a recent report by the eCycling Leadership Initiative states that companies recycled 585 million pounds of electronics in 2012, an increase of 27% compared to the 460 million pounds recycled in 2011. This represents a total increase of 95 percent since 2010 (300 million pounds). The report singles out Apple, Best Buy Dell, HP and Samsung as the top recyclers in 2012.

However, the industry continues searching for ways to increase CRT glass recycling.

Earlier this month, CEA and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries launched a crowdsourcing CRT Challenge to identify financially viable, environmentally conscious proposals for using recycled cathode ray tube (CRT) glass. As CRT technology has been displaced in the market by liquid crystal display (LCD), LED and plasma displays, the consumer electronics and recycling industries are working to find new ways to recycle old CRT glass.

AB 1022 (Eggman), which passed out of policy committee with bipartisan support, will help increase e-waste recycling, expand the market for CRT glass and support the development of a California-based recycling infrastructure. It would allow for market incentive payments to recyclers that will help offset cost of separating out lead from the CRT glass. Manufacturer payments will incentivize manufacturers to use the cleaned CRT glass in their products instead of other materials.

The next stop for AB 1022 is Assembly Appropriations.