The bill in Oregon will greatly expand the list of covered items, bringing VCRs and other products into the fold. | Charles Knowles/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
Oregon lawmakers passed – and the governor signed – legislation that will add devices to the state’s electronics recycling program and also alter the framework through which manufacturers fulfill their collection obligations.
HB 3220 cleared the Oregon House and Senate on June 24 and was signed by Gov. Tina Kotek on July 13. Kotek is a Democrat and the House and Senate are both Democrat-controlled.
After receiving several amendments, the bill passed the House with 56 votes in favor and four excused and the Senate with 23 votes in favor, one vote in opposition and six senators absent.
The bill expands the 14-year-old e-scrap program to include fax machines, VCRs, portable digital music players, DVD players and recorders, video game consoles and numerous other household electronics. It currently covers computers, TVs, monitors, printers, keyboards and mice.
The bill also eliminates the state contractor program that carries out the collection and recycling responsibilities on behalf of many OEMs, but allows for multiple producer responsibility organizations (PROs). The program currently has one PRO.
The revamped e-scrap program will require PROs to sign contracts with any transfer station, landfill or materials recovery facility that wants to become an Oregon E-Cycles collection site.
New convenience standards are included in the bill text to ensure that 95% of residents are within 15 miles of a collection site, including that there is at least one site in each county and that each city provides a minimum number of sites based on population.
It requires the PROs to “provide convenient and equitable service throughout the state, including to rural areas and minority, lower-income and other historically underserved populations.”
The majority of the changes will go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.
This story has been updated to reflect the signed status of the bill.
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