new body

New Clearinghouse to Encourage Cooperation among State Electronics Recycling Programs


Las Vegas, Nev. – January 7, 2010 – Today at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show, two leading non-profit organizations in advancing recycling efforts across the country announced the formation of the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC). The ERCC will serve as a forum for coordination and information exchange among state and local agencies that are implementing electronics recycling take-back laws. While the laws vary in their structure and impact, there are many basic areas of overlap that can be implemented in a consistent manner. The ERCC, which will be administered by the Northeast Recycling Council, Inc. (NERC) and managed by the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER), will serve to identify and coordinate joint approaches to those common challenges.


“Despite the patchwork of state requirements on electronics recycling, the ERCC will play a valuable role in reducing administrative overlap and simplifying compliance efforts for manufacturers and other impacted stakeholders,” said NCER Executive Director Jason Linnell. The ERCC is not starting from scratch in creating a multi-state cooperation forum. The governance, dues structure, and basic activities are modeled on the successful organization currently managed by NERC known as the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH). “TPCH has demonstrated over the years that providing this type of coordination can provide benefits to and reduce costs for state governments and the regulated community in addition to providing consistency to the impacted industry, and we are excited to extend this model to electronics recycling programs,” said NERC Executive Director Lynn Rubinstein.


The ERCC is divided into two basic types of membership. The first are the voting members, who are states and local governments that are implementing electronics recycling laws. The ERCC also includes an affiliate, non-voting membership consisting of industry and other organizations. The ERCC provides affiliate members a forum to efficiently and effectively meet with state regulators to discuss the various aspects of their legislation, and a single resource destination for important information needed to make timely decisions that affect issues in multiple states.


NCER will host a press event on Thursday, January 7th at noon Pacific standard time in room S221 of the Las Vegas Convention Center to announce the ERCC and recognize the Founding Members. The ERCC will kick off key projects in the coming months to collect and maintain updated data on collection volumes, manufacturer contact information, and return share. Additionally, Member States will be able to pursue projects such as combining manufacturer registration forms and joint access to needed market research data. More information and news will be posted to the ERCC website located at http://www.ecycleclearinghouse.org


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About the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER): The NCER is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization based in Parkersburg, West Virginia that is dedicated to the development and enhancement of a national infrastructure for the recycling of used electronics in the U.S. For more information about the NCER, visit its website at http://www.electronicsrecycling.org/.


About the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC): NERC's mission is to advance an environmentally sustainable economy by promoting source and toxicity reduction, recycling, and the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services. For more information on NERC or any of their projects visit its website at http://www.nerc.org/.