E-Scrap News

Two prospective PROs bid for Oregon e-scrap program

Lifecycle Innovations, out of Wisconsin, and current Oregon PRO MRM laid out plans for the program, which now can accommodate more than one administrating organization. | PIYAWAT WONGOPASS/Shutterstock

Two prospective producer responsibility organizations (PROs) have submitted bids to manage Oregon’s revamped E-Cycles program, which will launch Jan. 1, 2026.

The two entities that submitted bids are ITAD firm Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations and Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management (MRM). The state Department of Environmental Quality posted each company’s plan on its site for E-Cycles 2026, redacted to protect confidential or proprietary information. The Oregon DEQ is accepting public comment through Aug. 8. The agency must respond to program plans by Aug. 29, and can select more than one PRO to administer the plan.

HB 3220, the bill to modernize the program, was signed into law in 2023, and ended the state contractor program that carried out the collection and recycling responsibilities on behalf of many OEMs, instead allowing for multiple PROs to be set up. MRM, one of the organizations bidding to be a PRO, is a stewardship group that operates under Oregon’s existing E-Cycles program as an alternative to the state contractor system.

The new program will expand the list of accepted devices for the state’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for electronics and strengthen the convenience requirements for program services.

The original program covered computers, TVs, monitors, printers, keyboards and mice, and the new covered device list includes fax machines, VCRs, portable digital music players, DVD players and recorders, video game consoles, digital converter boxes, cable and satellite receivers, scanners, small-scale servers, routers and modems.

The original convenience standards were at least one collection site in each county and one site for each city of 10,000 or more residents. Starting in 2026, PROs must ensure that 95% of residents are within 15 miles of a collection site, that there is one site in each county and that each city provides a minimum number of sites according to its population.

Both proposals note that if more than one PRO is selected, the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER) will act as the coordinating body, for activities including public education and outreach; developing overall goals for the program and for public awareness; measuring public awareness about electronics recycling opportunities; calculating annual manufacturer market shares; apportioning program costs; and reconciling those allocations in subsequent years.

Based in Onalaska, Wisconsin, Dynamic is one of several PROs for the Canadian province of Ontario’s electronics recycling program and operates in numerous states. 

MRM was founded in 2007 by Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba to help electronics manufacturers provide responsible recycling for consumers. It operates regulatory compliance programs in 20 states and the District of Columbia, a mail-back program, and programs in Canada. 

MRM has operated within the electronics recycling program in Oregon since 2009, processing more than 50% of all the material collected under the entire Oregon E-Cycles program during that time, the organization wrote in its application.

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