July 2, 2007
June 23, 2007
Paying ahead or later: Electric Appliances Recycling Program in Minnesota
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/06/22/recycling/
This news is about Best Buy's recycling events to collect used electric appliances free of charge. Why does BB collect them free? The State of Minnesota implemented a new law that electric manufacturers have to recycle 60% (80% later) of their production, and the above law encourages this recycling event. I guess that manufacturers are paying for this event. The recycling system is similar to CO2's emission trading. Manufacturers can earn credits from other competitors by receiving electric appliances made by them. Consumers have to pay for recycling if they drop electrics at a garbage place. I think that consumers have incentives not to dispose of electric appliances illegally since they can be disposed of without charge by giving them to manufacturers.
The system that consumers do not need to pay for recycling is different from that in Japan. For example, consumers have to pay about $30 for recycling a TV in Japan and the money is used for recycling. Japan's system seems to cost more because it has to establish and manage the system to collecting money from consumers. I think that both systems are almost the same in terms of consumers' burden, either by paying a higher purchase price or by paying recycling fee. However, it seems easier to monitor manufacturers than consumers to enforce the system.
I want to look into pros and cons of two systems.
June 17, 2005
About this blog.
What do I write?
--I would like to think Japan through news in Minnesota or the U.S.
Frequency:
--Once a week