Re: Don't even get me started on lead,

Simon Pea*** wrote:
> The main problem is the lobby groups.. I'd say the battery makers have a
> better lobby group than the electronics. Or it would be an offence to dump
> any kind of battery by now, you would have to take them to an approved
> recycler that has sufficient protection on its plant to avoid contamination
> of the surrounding area.
That's how it is in some parts of the EU already. In Germany, all
batteries must be taken back by the manufacturer to be disposed
of/recycled properly. That means that you can (actually, you HAVE to)
return empty batteries to the store you bought them at, and they send
'em back to the manufacturers, who in turn have to deal with them
properly (as required by law). Theoretically, you can be fined if
someone finds old batteries in your trash. Not that anyone really is
looking...

Some more examples from Germany:
Every store is required to take back packaging materials. It's not
uncommon for people in supermarkets to start ripping off cardboard boxes
and blister packages from the stuff they just bought and leave it in the
store. Every major store has recycling bins for paper and plastic for
that purpose. I guess this was supposed to motivate manufacturers to use
less packaging, hasn't really worked...

Last year, they introduced refundable deposits for most cans and plastic
bottles. So now you pay a little something extra for every can of soda
or beer, and have to return the empty ones to the store to get the
deposit back. This is supposed to motivate people to buy their stuff in
reusable glass bottles instead of throw-away cans and plastic bottles.
Of course there were some loopholes, and the whole thing caused more
ruckus than it did good.

So, now that stores have to take back batteries and packaging materials,
the next step was to make them take back electronics as well. Now all
electronic devices can be returned to the stores, who in turn have to
take care of proper recycling (as required by law). And this implies
that the stuff indeed CAN be recyled, which in turn requires
manufacturers to use minimal amounts of hazardous materials to at least
make the process easier.

Of course we could instead keep doing what we do now and send the stuff
to India and China by the shipload for them to rip it apart with bare
hands on unprotected soil... That's another way to return it to where it
was made...

cu,
Sean
.