Outside the EU, both Switzerland and Norway have had take-back and recycling laws covering electronics since 1998.
While there has been some action at the state level, the U.S. has resisted imposing any federal requirements for the recycling of electronic waste. Some companies have established voluntary programs in the U.S. For example, an IBM program promises to recycle any old computer or donate it if the consumer pays $29.95 and sends it to the company, while Hewlett-Packard operates a recycling facility for old equipment used by the company and some of its corporate customers.
Some environmentalists and industry officials have discussed trying to establish a national voluntary scheme to address electronic waste.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been developing a guide for countries to implement "extended producer responsibility" to shift the onus for recycling obsolete products from government to producers. While many OECD member countries have embraced the concept, industry has managed to push the U.S. to instead support the idea of shared responsibility.
Still, despite all the efforts to promote recycling, industry officials say potential obstacles remain.
Some countries have imposed restrictions on the cross-border shipment of old electronics. Beveridge and Diamond's Hagen and others say that companies must be allowed to ship obsolete electronic materials across national borders because it's not feasible for companies to have their own recycling centres in each country. If governments want companies to recycle electronic waste, "we need to allow it to move freely," Hagen says.
