CA: CRT Glass Recycling Bill

“The process of recycling scrap CRT monitors and televisions produces both funnel glass, which contains high levels of lead, as well as low- and non-leaded panel glass. Recycling has become difficult, as there are fewer and fewer uses for this glass.

“Eggman’s bill would allow it to be used in many new products where it has been determined to pose no harm, including tile and radiation shielding glass. The bill will also allow state agencies to identify additional end-uses of the material.

“Fewer recycling plants have been extracting this glass because there have been fewer and fewer buyers. Currently, more than half the CRT glass recycled in California has gone to a company in India, which is the last manufacturer of CRTs.

“Without a market for the glass, recyclers have sent more and more of it to landfills.

“Hence, Eggman’s bill.

“We have to keep pace with changes in technology that can suddenly create significant new sources of waste,” Eggman said in a statement. “There are uses out there for scrap CRT glass that can keep it out of landfills — all we have to do is allow them under the law so these markets can flourish.”

“The bill, AB1419, passed the Legislature with bipartisan support and was supported by local government and environmental groups and the state’s recycling industry.

“The e-waste recycling industry is struggling on dual fronts with record low commodity markets and lack of allowable end-uses for CRT panel glass,” said Teresa Bui, a legislative analyst for Californians Against Waste. “AB1419 will help open up recycling markets in California and reduce the need for extracting raw materials.”