Wisconsin regulators have released a draft rule that would revise how manufacturer recycling targets are calculated, establish clearer standards for waiving shortfall fees and expand the list of eligible electronics under the state’s E-Cycle program, which collects and recycles certain electronics from households and schools statewide.
The program is funded by manufacturers of televisions, computers, monitors, printers and video game consoles, who must register annually with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to sell their products in the state. Under the law, each registered manufacturer is assigned an annual target weight of electronics it must recycle from Wisconsin households and K-12 schools.
The department is seeking public comment through Feb. 26 on the economic impact analysis as the draft moves through the administrative rulemaking process.
A central change would codify how the department determines each manufacturer’s target recycling weight and when those targets may be revised. Under the draft, the department would calculate each manufacturer’s market share and target recycling weight for a given target year and provide that information by Aug. 1 of the reporting year.
If a manufacturer submits or changes its registration after the initial determination but before Jan. 31 of the target year, the department would update its determination by March 1. After Jan. 31, manufacturers would not be allowed to amend the weight of covered electronic devices sold during the data year.
For manufacturers registering after Jan. 31, the agency would calculate a target recycling weight and may recalculate targets for all manufacturers if a late registrant’s market share exceeds 0.10%. The rule also establishes a 0.01% market share threshold tied to assignment of a target recycling weight and recalculation during the March update cycle.
The DNR published the proposal, Order WA-15-24, in late January, to update the program.
Seeking waivers
The proposal would also formalize the process for manufacturers seeking a waiver of fees if they fall short of their assigned target. To qualify, a manufacturer would have to notify the DNR once it determines it will not meet its target and submit a written request with its annual registration or, if the shortfall is discovered later, no later than April 30 of the year the registration is due.
Manufacturers would be required to document what the draft defines as good faith progress toward meeting their target, including having a contract or written agreement in place before the end of the program year with at least one registered recycler or authorized broker. The rule also requires documentation that the manufacturer, broker or recycler notified the department upon learning of a potential shortfall and sought information about alternative compliance methods.
The proposal states that manufacturers must demonstrate they met at least 50% of their assigned target to qualify for waiver consideration and must provide documentation of unexpected circumstances contributing to a shortfall along with a plan describing steps to avoid future shortfalls. In evaluating waiver requests, the department would consider whether minimum requirements were met, whether documentation is adequate, whether total available recycled weight statewide was less than the combined target recycling weights of manufacturers and whether errors by collectors, recyclers or brokers contributed to the shortfall.
The draft would also expand the list of eligible electronic devices to include a variety of battery-powered devices, including digital cameras, digital music players, radios and walkie-talkies or handheld communication devices. It also would include internet-connected wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smart watches. The proposal specifies that collectors and recyclers would not be required to accept these devices and that manufacturers would not be required to register them or include them in sales data used to calculate fees and targets.
