Enforced recycling

The share of secondary refined lead should continue to rise in the foreseeable future. Firstly, for environmental reasons, governments in a growing number of countries will require that a higher proportion of used, scrap batteries are recycled, rather than simply being dumped. This enforced recycling may increasingly displace the market-based, economic incentives... 

Japan Chemical Week 40,No.2031, 1st July 1999, p.9 CONTAINERS RECYCLING LAW TO BE ENFORCED NEXT APRIL... 

Should the government require that certain materials be recycled If so, how should this requirement be enforced ... 

Procedure B has been developed and proposed by Fraunhofer IW (Franz et al. 1994) without incorporating model contaminants. It is a black-box approach which monitors inherently present recycling-related substances and is applicable to a ready-to-use food contact article. In this way, the procedure meets not only the R D and quality assurance requirements of the manufacturer but also offers a test possibility for enforcement labs. Essentially, procedure B consists of two experimental key steps ... 

With increasing production volumes of chemicals predicted for the next 20 years [242], the economic advantages of the costly application of recovery, reuse and recycling may prove limited unless regulatory controls are put in place. Chemical bans are now being enforced to ensure that material recovery and recycling targets are technically and economically achievable [243, 244]. 

We recycle cans, plastic, and newspaper so why not recycle computer equipment Well, the problem is that most computers contain small amounts of hazardous substances (chemicals from monitor screens, chemicals from batteries, and noxious chemicals in the wiring). Some countries are exploring the option of recycling electrical machines, but most have still not enacted appropriate measures to enforce their proper disposal. However, there are a few things that we can do as consumers and environmentalists that can promote the proper disposal of computer equipment ... 

The operators of those facilities best situated to collect used Ni-Cd batteries have universally balked at voluntarily undertaking the expense, complexity and liability associated with the these obligations. Compelling entities that sell Ni-Cd batteries at retail to take them back for recycling is little better few welcome this burden, enforcement is difficult, and ultimately, retailers can simply discontinue selling new batteries rather than take on these problems. Since there are some appliances for which there is no alternative to Ni-Cd batteries power, consumers will resort to mail order or other avenues of obtaining the batteries that they need and have no feasible way to recycle them. 

In the year 2000, the EU also instituted a broader approach of requiring that packaging adhere to what are referred to as essential requirements related to source reduction, minimal presence of hazardous substances, and the design and production to facilitate recovery, reuse, and recycling. Adoption of standards necessary to enforce the requirements is up to individual member states. Some countries have issued detailed standards (UK, Erance, Czech Republic) but the others have only much more general language [7]. In much of the developing world, open dumps are still a common method of waste disposal, even in major urban areas. The appreciable... 

---