Read the full article at the Springfield Journal Register.

Public Act 97-0287 bans 17 electronic products from landfills. The landfill ban includes: TVs, computers (including desktop, notebook, tablet), monitors, printers, computer peripherals, VCRs/DVD players, gaming systems, MP3 players, scanners, fax machines and small scale servers. These products contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and beryllium that must be properly managed to prevent soil and groundwater contamination.

Illinois Senator Susan Garrett and Representative Daniel Biss sponsored the Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act that requires manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling obsolete residential electronic products. Obsolete electronic products also contain valuable materials that can be recycled for reuse such as copper, gold and circuit chips. The law requires electronics manufacturers to set up a take-back program for used electronics or partner with local recyclers to offer residents a free electronics recycling program at venues close to home.

“The residential electronic recycling program keeps toxic chemicals out of our soil and water, creates new jobs for the state’s recycling industry, and makes recycling easy for consumers without any additional costs,” said Melville Nickerson, Staff Attorney at ELPC, which advised on policy and built support for the legislation. “Illinois is one of 25 states that has passed legislation to solve the problem of discarded electronics, the fastest growing element of our country’s municipal waste stream.”

The Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act culminates years of work by Senator Garrett, Representative Dan Biss, ELPC and other business and environmental organizations to address the growing problem of obsolete electronics. According to the US EPA, Americans throw away 400 million electronic products each year.

For more information in the landfill ban and the free residential recycling program visit http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/electronic-waste-recycling/consumer-education.html

Read ELPC’s Executive Summary of SB 2106

ELPC has the first LEED Platinum office in a Historic Landmark building in Chicago, creating a model they hope others will follow. “We’ve transformed space in a historic building into a cutting-edge green modern office with high environmental performance that makes economic sense.” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of ELPC. “With smart design, this downtown office space saves money with state-of-the-art energy efficiency technology, uses local, recycled materials, reduces waste and is an attractive, great place to work.”

“ELPC is showcasing modern green office design and technologies that can easily be replicated by businesses, law and consulting firms, governmental agencies and other conventional downtown office tenants in ways that are good for the environment, good for employee productivity and good for the bottom line,” said Learner.  “By demonstrating how this can be done, ELPC is inspiring others, advancing policy and moving the market forward so that what’s cutting edge today will be commonplace tomorrow.”

ELPC’s new office preserves the building’s historic façade while maximizing the green features of the interior.  Photo sensors control the LED and fluorescent lighting system to cut energy use in half, and maximize “daylighting” as interior windows and frosted glass spread natural light throughout the office. Electrical outlets, heating and cooling are all controlled with state-of the-art occupancy sensors that monitor CO2 to use power only where it’s needed, dramatically cutting utility bills and avoiding pollution.

During construction, ELPC diverted more than 75% of waste from landfills and used locally sourced, recycled and recyclable materials. Natural surfaces and finishes without toxic chemicals and VOCs improve the office’s air quality. A private shower encourages employees to bike to work, and solar panels on the building’s façade will directly supply the office with clean energy.

ELPC opened its first green office more than a decade ago and combined that example with advocacy to promote green building and enact green building policies in Illinois and around the region. The new green office is the latest effort by ELPC to create environmental progress and economic development together.

By employing innovative technology and forward-thinking design, the office creates a new green space in an old building. It’s a valuable example because in coming years the vast majority of building will occur as renovations of existing space, rather than new construction.  “The real success of this project will come five years down the road when other offices around the region have followed this example,” said Learner.

“Building operations are nearly 40% of the solution to the global climate change challenge,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “While climate change is a global problem, innovative organizations like the Environmental Law & Policy Center are addressing it through local solutions.”

Read the Chicago Tribune article here.

ELPC has recently moved into a new, state-of-the-art green office. At every stage of the process, we have taken steps to maximize efficiency, minimize waste and create a safe, healthy work environment.  Click here to read more about our green office. 

“We’ve created a highly efficient workspace that’s healthy for our staff and makes economic sense.” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of ELPC. “We’ve also created an example that can push the market toward a higher standard for green office design.”

ELPC’s new office maximizes the green features of the interior to create a sustainable, high-tech space while preserving the building’s historic facade.  An efficient lighting system uses half the power of a conventional system while interior windows and frosted glass spread natural light throughout the office. Lighting, electrical outlets, heating and cooling are all controlled with state-of the-art sensors that use power only where it’s needed, dramatically cutting ELPC’s utility bills and avoiding pollution.

During construction, ELPC diverted more than 75% of waste from landfills and used locally sourced, recycled and recyclable materials. Natural surfaces and finishes without toxic chemicals and VOCs improve the office’s air quality. A private shower encourages employees to bike to work, and solar panels on the building’s façade will directly supply the office with clean energy.

ELPC opened its first green office more than a decade ago and combined that example with advocacy to promote green building and enact green building policies in Illinois and around the region. The new green office is the latest effort by ELPC to create environmental progress and economic development together.

By employing innovative technology and forward-thinking design, the office creates a new green space in an old building. It’s a valuable example because in coming years 80% of building will occur as renovations of existing space, rather than new construction.   “The real success of this project will come five years down the road when other offices around the region have followed this example,” said Learner. “If we can inspire others and move the market forward, what’s cutting edge today will be commonplace tomorrow.”

More information is available at www.elpc.org/greenoffice.

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.