Santa Clarita Eyes Recycling Plan for Electronic Devices

Concerned about hazardous materials in cell phones, computers and televisions, the city of Santa Clarita is proposing a program to reduce the amount of electronic equipment its residents send to the landfill.

Under the proposal, a waste hauler would collect discarded electronic items free of charge and take them to a recycling plant.

The collection would take place in the weeks after Christmas, a prime time to cast off old electronic products.

At its meeting tonight, the City Council will consider applying for an $80,000 grant from the state’s Integrated Waste Management Board to fund the project.

Although relatively small, the effort is part of a growing statewide acknowledgment of the hazards posed by discarded electronics. In 2001, the state Department of Health Services banned the dumping of TV and computer monitors with cathode ray tubes, which contain hazardous amounts of lead, although environmentalists say the little-known law often goes unheeded.

Other electronics contain such toxic elements as cadmium, barium and mercury. In February, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control announced that devices such as cell phones, stereos and computer hard drives would be banned from landfills starting in 2006.

The environmental group Californians Against Waste estimates that more than 10,000 computers and televisions break or are replaced every day statewide, but just 15% or less are recycled because consumers are often charged for the cost of hauling.

Last year, a bill by state Sen. Byron Sher (D-Stanford) would have attached a fee of as much as $30 to every new TV and computer sold in California to help pay for collection and recycling. The measure, which was opposed by computer and TV trade groups, was eventually vetoed by Gov. Gray Davis.

This session, Sher has introduced another bill that would “ensure” funds would be available to local government for collection and recycling programs.

Jason Smisko, Santa Clarita’s environmental services manager, said his city’s proposal would allow residents to recycle their electronics for free during a brief period each year until 2006, when the city’s new trash contract goes into effect. That new contract will require the trash hauler to pick up and properly dispose of electronic waste as part of the agreement.

“We’re looking for any opportunity to put less product into landfills,” Smisko said. “If you can provide more cost-effective ways for people to get rid of materials, the better -- especially in middle-class and affluent communities, where kids are carrying cell phones, and VCRs and computers are in every room.”

Smisko also noted that Santa Clarita, like many California cities, has not met a state mandate to send no more than 50% of its trash to landfills, and could eventually face steep fines.

Mark Murray, the executive director of Californians Against Waste, said Santa Clarita’s program would be a small step in a positive direction.

“It’s not going to go very far in terms of covering the volume [of waste] that’s out there,” he said. “But it’s a start.”