I spoke about how I wanted an electronic recycling surcharge on equipment in an earlier post:
while Ontario is looking at options for a Electronic Waste Recycling program we’re still months if not years away. In my opinion this just isn’t good enough. Charge a levy on all computers now. While I hate spending more money – the government seemed in a damned rush to make us get our wine bottles into the ‘beer store’ for recycling reasons (though I thought most people recycled them anyways.) I’m sure we can get this done quickly, I’m not sure why we’re not setting a faster pace.
Well it looks as though there has been some movement on this. But its still not good enough.
The earliest a program could be underway in Ontario is 2009 and, if there’s political or consumer backlash, it could take even longer. There is a provincial election Oct. 10.
I’m glad to see movement but two years? I can’t help but think the up coming election is pushing this out. And as the article points out this is the third announcement of this initiative since 2004. The provincial government could be moving forward much faster..
John
June 18, 2007
We already have something like this in Alberta. Though, for the life of me I can’t figure out why!
Electronics purchases, unlike purchases of tires, bottles etc., don’t necessarily come with the discard of another item.
How chagrined was I when I purchsed a 72″ LCD tv only to notice on the bill I had been levied a recycling fee of $25? I wasn’t throwing anything out. The 32″ tv that the big one was purchased to replace was relegated to the kid’s rec. room. It wasn’t being recycled, per se.
When purchasing two new laptops for my daughter and my wife I noticed a $10 charge added to each as a recycling fee. Nothing was being recycled. These weren’t replacing any old machines that could be recycled. They were new purchases.
New taxes like these are paramount to government pocket lining unless they are levied realistically. Were I to be actually recycling a device, then perhaps I should pay for it.
It is like the ARTIST’S TAX levied on blank recordable media. I am paying for something I am not getting. By placing the surtax on these items I am not being provided a license to record copyright material, or am I? Are the artists getting the money from these surcharges? If so, which artists are getting it?