There are early indications that Wisconsin’s ban on sending electronic waste to landfills is working. The law that took effect in September requires consumers and manufacturers to recycle old electronic devices, rather than just throwing them away.
Thad Nation with Wired Wisconsin says the group has been tracking numbers at recycling centers statewide since the ban started, and so far there has been a “sharp uptick” in several areas for electronic waste coming in.
For example, Nation says a hazardous materials center in Brown County has reported almost 50,000 pounds a month in electronic waste being recycled since September. That’s up from just 15,000 before the ban started.
Nation says numbers like that show how badly the ban was needed because those items were just being thrown away before.
Recycling products, such as old computers and TVs, means dangerous heavy metals and chemicals are no longer ending up in landfills. Those materials are often being recaptured and used to make new products, which Nation says is a very important step forward for the state.