§ 48-60-141 — Registration of collectors under a manufacturer electronic waste program; denial of a registration; sorting of collected covered devices; prohibited activities.

Section effective until December 31, 2029. (A) By November 1, 2022, and by November first of each year thereafter for that program year, a person acting as a collector under a manufacturer electronic waste program shall register with the department by completing and submitting to the department the registration form prescribed by the department. The registration form prescribed by the department must include, without limitation, the address of each location at which the collector accepts covered devices. (B) The department may deny a registration under this section if the collector or any employee or officer of the collector has a history of: (1) repeated violations of federal, state, or local laws, regulations, standards, or ordinances related to the collection, recovering, or other management of covered devices; (2) conviction in this State or another state of any crime which is a felony under the laws of this State, or conviction of a felony in a federal court; or conviction in this State or another state or federal court of any of the following crimes: forgery, official misconduct, bribery, perjury, or knowingly submitting false information under any environmental law, regulation, or permit term or condition; or (3) gross carelessness or incompetence in handling, storing, processing, transporting, disposing, or otherwise managing covered devices. (C) The department shall post on the department's website a list of all registered collectors. (D) Manufacturers and recoverers acting as collectors shall so indicate on their registration under Section 48-60-51 or Section 48-60-142 of this chapter. (E) Each collector that operates a program collection site or one-day event shall ensure that the collected covered devices are sorted and loaded in compliance with local, State, and federal law. In addition, at a minimum, the collector shall also comply with the following requirements: (1) Covered television devices and covered computer monitor devices must be accepted at program collection sites or one-day collection events unless otherwise provided in this chapter. (2) Covered television devices and covered computer monitor devices must be kept separate from other material and must: (a) be packaged in a manner to prevent breakage; (b) be loaded onto pallets and secured with plastic wrap or in pallet-sized bulk containers prior to shipping; and (c) weigh on average per collection site eighteen thousand pounds per shipment, and if not then the recoverer may charge the collector a prorated charge on the shortfall in weight, not to exceed six hundred dollars. (3) Covered devices must be sorted into at least the following categories: (a) covered computer monitor devices; (b) covered television devices; (c) all other covered devices that are part of the manufacturer program; (d) any other covered device that is not part of the manufacturer program that the collector has arranged to have picked up with covered devices and for which a financial arrangement has been made to cover the recycling costs outside of the manufacturer program; and (e) any other covered device that is not part of the manufacturer program that the collector has arranged to have picked up with covered devices and for which a financial arrangement has been made to cover the recycling costs outside of the manufacturer program. (4) Containers holding the covered devices must be structurally sound for transportation. (5) Each shipment of covered devices from a program collection site or one-day collection event must include a collector-prepared bill of lading or similar manifest, which describes the origin of the shipment and the number of pallets or bulk containers of covered devices in the shipment. (F) Except as provided in subsection (G), each collector that operates a program collection site or one-day collection event during a program year shall accept all covered television devices and computer monitor devices that are delivered to the program collection site or one-day collection event during the program year. (G) No collector that operates a program collection site or one-day collection event shall: (1) accept, at the program collection site or one-day collection event, more than seven covered devices from an individual at any one time; (2) scrap, salvage, dismantle, or otherwise disassemble any covered devices collected at a program collection site or one-day collection event; (3) deliver to a manufacturer electronic waste program, through its recoverer, any covered devices other than covered television devices and covered computer monitor devices, unless otherwise provided for in this chapter, collected at a program collection site or one-day collection event; or (4) deliver to a person other than the manufacturer electronic waste program or its recoverer, covered television devices and covered computer monitor devices, unless otherwise provided for in this chapter, collected at a program collection site or one-day collection event. (H) Beginning in program year 2023, registered collectors participating in a county or solid waste authority supervised collection programs may collect a fee for each desktop computer monitor or television accepted for recovering to cover costs for collection and preparation for bulk shipment or to cover costs associated with the requirements of subsection (E). (I) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a person from acting as a collector independently of a manufacturer electronic waste program. (J) Any collector or recoverer operating a one-day collection event shall not deliver any collected devices to any county or solid waste authority operating in one or more counties without prior coordination and agreement.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2022 Act No. 234 (H.4775), SECTION 1.A, eff June 17, 2022. Editor's Note 2022 Act No. 234, SECTION 1.B, provides as follows: "[SECTION 1.]B. Section 14 of Act 129 of 2014, as amended by Act 82 of 2021, is repealed. Section 48-60-55 of the 1976 Code is repealed December 31, 2022. The remaining provisions of this chapter, except Section 48-60-90, are repealed December 31, 2029."