Free recycling programs get needed attention

On Labor Day, the State of Texas enacted a law that requires any company selling a computer to offer a free consumer recycling program. This is an awesome move because now there is no excuse to see a computer in a Texas landfill.

Consumers will always have an option, and companies will have to shoulder some responsibility for their product’s lifecycles. Several other states are doing the same and instituting requirements to provide free recycling options to consumers.

Recycling, as well as seeing that an electronic device has a nice long life, is a surefire way to reduce waste, but people have to have a reason to do so. Companies are starting to recognize that reducing waste can be profitable. TechForward recently partnered with TigerDirect and CompUSA to offer their Guaranteed Buyback program, making it profitable for both them and the consumer to recycle or resell used gadgets. And Texas’ law takes a burden off taxpayers because they won’t have to use tax dollars towards sorting an extensive amount of e-waste.

A little sad, but completely true: Making it about money helps create needed change. And smacking down a new law certainly helps too.