Cleaning up
Legislation establishing the nation’s first cellphone recycling requirement went into effect July 1.
Assembly Bill 2901 by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) requires any business selling cellphones to take back and recycle old phones at no cost to the consumer.
An estimated 19 million Californians use a cellphone, and most of the phones have an average life span of only 18 months, Pavley said. Many devices end up in California landfills.
“Not only is this a burden on landfill space, but cellphones contain hazardous materials which, if improperly disposed of, can leak out and contaminate soil and groundwater,” Pavley said.
The legislation also requires most sellers of cellphones to inform consumers about recycling options when they buy a phone.
“The measure will help ensure that the more than 25,000 toxic cellphones that are discarded every day in California are recycled,” said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste.
Another recycling bill authored by Pavley also went into effect on July 1. AB 1125 requires retailers that sell rechargeable batteries to take back these toxic batteries for recycling, reuse or proper disposal, at no cost to the consumer. Rechargeable batteries contain toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury and lead. The heavy metals, which are known carcinogens, can accumulate in the environment by leaching into soil, groundwater and surface water from landfills.
“Our goal is nothing less than recycling or reusing 100 percent of discarded cellphones and rechargeable batteries,” Pavley said.
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