Advance Recovery Fees And E-Waste
What is an 'Advance Recovery Fee' (ARF) program?
An ‘Advance Recovery Fee' program, like we have here in California, is where the consumer pays at the cash register as they're buying covered electronics such as a laptop or a television screen. An advance recycling fee for that material to be recycled when it comes to its end of life. In California, the lowest fee is $6 and the maximum fee is $10. It's like a bottle bill redemption. You pay it forward in that way all electronics is recycled appropriately. It has been a wild and tremendous success here in the state of California.
How many states offer an advance recovery fee program?
Unfortunately right now, the only state that has the advance recycling free model is California. Other states are carefully examining the success story of California and are going to follow suit, but as of yet, none are to a knock the California advance recycling fee, but that's in the cars in the future.
Do I pay an advance recovery fee for electronics bought online?
If you buy your computer, cell phone or any other electronics from your online computer system here in California and you buy anything electronic online from your office or home in California, it is covered by the advanced recycling fee. The system still works wonderfully. There has been no glitches in the advanced recycling fee from online purchases. There has been no consumer pushback because people, when they are educated to this crisis of electronic waste, want to do the right thing and they don't want to poison the environment anymore.
What electronic manufacturers support advance recovery fee programs?
There's a new era that's happening now in the environmental movement. The retailers and the manufacturers, and the recycler's are all working collaboratively together to share best practices and to save the environment, and to change the processes and procedures that the manufacturers, the retailers, and the consumers engage in. The manufacturers that are doing a tremendous job out there are Apple, Dell, HP, just to name a few, and the retailers that are doing a tremendous job are Best Buy and Wal-Mart. The recyclers are also coming on board and are all collaborating to change the environment, and change the processes and the procedures that have historically destroyed the environment, and are going to turn the environmental ship around.
