A bill being debated at Minnesota’s state Capitol could boost IRT and other recyclers. It would update Minnesota’s current electronics waste law, which was passed back in 2007 — the year the first iPhone was released — and focuses mainly on televisions and computers.
The bill would cover 100 percent of electronic waste, and make recycling electronics free for all Minnesotans. To fund the program, it would add a 3.2 percent retail fee on most electronic items when they are sold. Cell phones would have a flat 90-cent fee.
The bill’s author, state Rep. Athena Hollins, said the current fees most Minnesotans must pay to recycle old computers or printers can be a deterrent. “We know when people show up to a recycling place and they find out they have to pay to recycle it, a lot of them just turn around and dump it into their regular trash feed,” said Hollins, DFL-St. Paul.