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Without this act, old thermostats would end up in landfills where toxic mercury would be released into soil and groundwater.   The legislation works with manufacturers to deal with the end life of their products, reduce waste and protect public health.

As ELPC Policy Advocate Mel Nickerson told the Illinois Times, “This is a common sense approach to keep toxins out of our soil and water. It’s a bill that environmentalists, manufacturers and the entire General Assembly could agree on.”

Read the full article here.

“The good news is that consumers are taking environmental performance into account when making buying decisions,” said Howard Learner, executive director of the Chicago-based Environmental Law and Policy Center, which is starting to look at which wireless service providers might be truly green. “But if people pay good green dollars to get green performance, the environmental results should justify the investment.”

Read the full article.

“This is a common sense approach to keep toxins out of our soil and water,” said Melville Nickerson, Policy Advocate for the Environmental Law & Policy Center, a group that helped to draft the bill. “It’s a bill that environmentalists, manufacturers and the entire General Assembly could agree on.”

“We know the dangers that mercury poses to public health, especially for mothers and young children,” Said Representative Karen May, the bill’s House sponsor. “This bill makes Illinois a healthier place to live.”

“We’re working with manufacturers to keep our land and water safe and conserve our resources for future generations,” said Senator Heather Steans, Senate Sponsor of SB 3346. “This is a policy that Illinois should be proud of.”

“Illinois has passed a significant piece of legislation that holds manufacturers accountable for reducing the environmental impacts of their products,” said Scott Cassel, Executive Director of the Product Stewardship Institute. “Product stewardship laws like these are sweeping the country, and Illinois is a national leader.

The Mercury Thermostat Collection Act requires thermostat manufacturers to establish an out-of-service mercury thermostat collection program and to meet ambitious goals to collect and safely dispose of unwanted mercury thermostats. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) will monitor the collection programs.

The bill adopts the recommendations of a report Turning Up the Heat on Thermostats written by the Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Mercury Products Campaign.

Illinois’ Mercury Thermostat Collection Act is based on model state legislation developed by the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) with input from thermostat manufacturers, heating and cooling contractors and wholesalers, retailers, environmental groups, and government officials. PSI’s model shares responsibility for safe thermostat recycling among all these groups and provides a menu of options from which states can choose. Illinois is the eighth state to pass legislation based on the model.

Under the new standards, average fuel economy for passenger cars will increase from 27.5 mpg in 2009 to 37.8 mpg by 2016 – an improvement of nearly 40 percent.  Building cleaner cars will reduce lifetime greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles produced between 2012 and 2016 by over 655 million tons. By 2030, the 2012-2016 standards will reduce GHG emissions from the U.S. light-duty fleet by approximately 21 percent.

The shift toward cleaner cars also presents an opportunity for manufacturing centers in the Midwest, as carmakers develop more efficient technologies and better pollution controls. ELPC believes the Midwest should be a leader in capturing the jobs of the future, building new, cleaner cars that increase our energy independence and reduce pollution.

New standards for cars of the future are predicted to save as much as 11.6 billion gallons of gasoline per year by 2016 (equal to half the oil the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia) and save consumers up to $31.8 billion annually at the pump.

More information:

ELPC’s report on the health and environmental benefits of clean car standards to Illinois: Breathing Free in Illinois

For more information on state by state benefits, please see Environment America’s report: State Leadership and the National Clean Cars Program

“We now call for the EPA to implement strong and fair standards that will reduce global warming pollution if Congress does not step up with legislation.  Implementing effective global warming solutions, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy development and high-speed rail development can create job growth, spur economic development, and help to solve our global warming problems.”

- Statement from Howard Learner, Executive Director, Environmental Law & Policy Center

Wisconsin’s e-waste bill ensures that dangerous electronic products are recycled, rather than tossed into landfills where valuable components are wasted and toxic chemicals contaminate our soil and water.  Through meetings with legislators, op-eds and letters and calls from our supporters in Wisconsin, ELPC helped pass this important legislation that will protect public health and create jobs in Wisconsin.

Read coverage here

ELPC helped create Illinois’ e-waste recycling bill and advised on policy and built support for Wisconsin’s legislation.

“Electronic waste is the fastest growing toxic segment of the solid waste stream, and this Wisconsin legislation is part of the solution,” said ELPC Executive Director Howard Learner. “This legislation helps solve our e-waste problems, creates jobs and makes recycling easier for residents. It’s a win-win-win for Wisconsin.”

Read ELPC’s press release here

“There may be a negative impact on the coal industry or on a company that owns a lot of coal plants, and you may hear them howling,” said Learner. “But on the other hand there’s a large number of winners who are creating jobs and that’s a boost to our economy.”

The event was part of the University of Wisconsin’s graduate program in sustainability and was covered by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Read the article here

The answer is an effective recycling program that can safely dispose of electronic products, conserve resources and create jobs. Wisconsin is considering an electronic products recycling bill, similar to the bill ELPC sponsored in Illinois, that will do just that.

In total, 19 states have adopted electronics recycling legislation. Andy wrote “our representatives should vote to protect the public health and create new jobs” by passing a bill that will help Wisconsin recycle electronics.

Read the op-ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin residents, contact your representatives and ask them to vote for the bill