Ontario greenlights new electronics levy

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TORONTO -- Ontario is set to add a green levy to televisions andcomputers sold in the province, as a way to offset the cost ofrecycling electronic equipment that is commonly dumped whenoutdated.
"The goal is to ensure that this material does not end up in ourlandfill site," provincial Environment Minister John Gerretsen saidThursday. "The main reason for this is because there are hazardousmaterials involved. "We're talking lead and mercury and othermaterials."
Gerretsen Thursday approved the Waste Electrical and ElectronicEquipment Program, which includes per-item fees on the two majorelectronic purchases, as well as computer monitors and printers,mice and keyboards.
The levies, $10 for televisions and about $13 for computers, willbe billed to Ontario producers and importers beginning on April 1,2009. Mr. Gerretsen said it was up to the manufacturers to decideif the cost would be absorbed or passed on to consumers.
The program's income, expected to be about $62 -illion in the firstyear, will go to Waste Diversion Ontario, a non-Crown corporationthat operates waste diversion programs for the government, in orderto fund the collection and recycling of outdated and unwantedelectronics.
"The cost to recycle, the cost to manage responsibly, is higherthan the cost to dispose," said executive director Glenda Gies."The way the current marketplace works is there's a disincentive todo the right thing." Ms. Gies said the company will implementpick-up programs and expand the number of drop-off locations toabout 650 from the current 167 across the province.
A second phase of green fees would need provincial approval nextsummer, potentially adding similar fees for the production andimport of cellphones and BlackBerrys, answering machines, radios,cameras, DVD players and stereo equipment.
The ministry says by the fifth year of the program, it expects 61%of Ontario's electronic waste to be reused or recycled, more thandouble the current rate of 27%
According to Ontario's Ministry of the Environment, households andbusinesses throw out about 90,000 tonnes of old computers, printersand televisions each year, which could grow to 123,000 tonneswithin five years - about four million desktop computers, 1.5million laptops and 2.2 million televisions.
Progressive Conservative Environment Critic Toby Barrett slammedthe "electronics tax" as an expensive initiative that would notmake the province any greener.
Recycling-fee programs on electronics are already in place inBritish Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.
National Post
Ontario's new green fees by component
The environmental taxes set for April 1, 2009
$10.07 per television