Starting February 8th (my birthday), any product that contains mercury (batteries, circuit boards, etc.) can no longer be put in the trash. I think this is a great idea for helping the environment. However, I see a few flaws in the system:
- It isn’t convenient. People will have to collect their stuff and go to the landfill on a Saturday (it is only open on Saturday for the Miramar/San Diego landfill).
- People will be charged $0.25 per pound. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, it is definitely a barrier to recycling. I’ve have to remember to take apart whatever I recycle so that I only recycle the circuit board from say a radio and not the rest of the bulk.
- The paper has reported officials saying that they won’t be policing the trash for banned materials. If there are no consequences for throwing stuff away, people will continue to do it. The news reported that over 60% of the people in their poll would keep throwing out batteries.
- For computers, there has already been a law requiring a recycling fee to be paid upfront. Now the consumer will have to pay a recycling fee twice for products.
I’ll make sure I keep a separate area/bin for this stuff and periodically recycle it, like I do with bottles and cans.