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Texas Makes Green Computing Mandatory
athloi writes to mention that Texas legislators have passed a bill that would require computer companies to provide free recycling services to their customers for hardware purchased. "The bill (HB 2714) requires computer manufacturers to provide a "reasonably convenient" recycling plan that requires no additional payments from consumers. Dell and HP provided some model legislation that was used as the basis for the bill, which will only affect computers purchased for personal or home business use, but it could still encourage manufacturers to adopt efficient recycling programs that might then be applied to all machines sold."
I guess that just means prices for new computers will go up $50 or so, and recycling services are, as promised, free.
Companies might even see a better profit margin unless recycling is also forced upon consumers.
Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
Remarkable. Not for the initiative itself, which is perfectly ordinary common sense, but from where it comes from. Reminds me of the time my grandad's pig played the violin. We all clapped and shouted hooray, not because the pig was any good, but because he could do it at all.
No, this is just more unconstitutional eco-fascism.
You're welcome to argue this in front of the Supreme Court. I'm sure they'll hear your case in a few hundred years.
'Loose' is when your pants are three sizes too big. 'Lose' is when you misuse 'loose'.
Why single out computers?
I mean, what about all the other appliances that tend to hit landfills, such as refridgerators, dishwashers, washers&dryers, televisions, radios, etc...?
With the newer controls and electronics many of these contain, I would tend to argue that there aren't any materials found in computers that aren't in these.
I think that Dell's got a cheap recycling program figured out(ship them to china?), and is trying to use this to muscle out the competition, which can't arrange disposal of old machines as easily.
Then there's the whole issue of what happens if the retailer is out of business when the customer goes to recycle his or her computer...
I don't read AC A human right
Are smaller system builders considered "manufacturers"? That would explain why the bill got so much support from HP and Dell; it raises the cost of doing business.
Dell's recycling option is offered for free. They give you mailing labels to send your old computer and monitor via DHL or something.
I don't know how much it actually costs Dell (obviously more than they charge), but so far Dell still has very low prices.
I can see why Dell would help force this on the competition... But in the end it's probably net positive for everybody.
Dell and HP provided some model legislation that was used as the basis for the bill
I'm not naive--I know it happens all the time, but I still get the shivers every time I read things like this. Am I the only one uncomfortable with the concept of corporations drafting laws?
I wonder what our country's founding fathers would have thought of the newspapers of their time reporting "This bill, drafted by the Honourable East India Company, and passed by Congress..."
Hey, we *need* those plants to provide surplus generation capacity for the next time there's money to be made taking a plant (or five) offline in California and then selling them our electricity at triple the market rate!
0 1 - just my two bits
The cost will just be passed along to the consumer.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Sometimes at night I imagine the darkness is filled with horrible things with too many teeth, like Julia Roberts.
Not if you read the headline as: "Texas raises barrier to entry for competitors of Dell and HP."
Notice how it does not affect business buyers, where the large players are already protected by a high barrier to entry.
You see, PC recycling is a profitable business, once you get away from CRTs. I've found at least three places in West Michigan that will pay me cash for old computer hardware.
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Let's see...
250GB drive..
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250GB drive..
100GB drive..
60 GB drive..
50 GB drive..
40 GB drive..
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I recently changed my recycling policy here in Texas with my computers. Until a month ago it was I upgraded, then my room mate upgraded with my old parts, then the living room emu/movie/etc pc got upgraded, etc with the parts. at the very end the left over stuff was sat 100 yards from back of the house and shot with a 22-250 (rifle).. ;) But we are considering making the chain long enough so the parts finally end up in Russia and in exchange they give us a "bride" or something, haven't worked the details out yet.
now we added an extra step where my room mate upgrades another friend
s/©//g
Texas isn't a one face State, we are large enough to have a myriad of different beliefs, after all have you ever been to Austin. You know, the Live Music Capital of the US.
I hate to be cynical, but living in Texas, I know how things work here, and that is the most likely explanation. Texas government is about as business-friendly as it gets (that's regarded as a virtue around here by many people). Plus, you should ask yourself where Dell is headquartered, and the answer is Texas. Then you should also ask yourself where Compaq was headquartered before HP bought them, and the answer is also Texas. So, the world's two largest PC manufacturers have a big presence in Texas, and "coincidentally" those two companies just got the Texas legislature to pass a bill that makes life hard for their competitors.
Coincidentally, AMD and Intel also have a huge presence here in Austin, the capital city of Texas, and I guess they could've/should've opposed this on the grounds that stifling competition is bad for the industry, but there is no chance they would've for two reasons: fear of pissing off Dell and HP, and fear of looking like they're anti-environment.
... crunched up computer electronics contains a lot more precious metals than the ore that originated the metals... they should be paying the individuals disposing the stuff....
It's easy for Germany to have a feel good law about their own domestic manufacturing, because the bulk of that nation's income is from exports. How about we start sending all of our trash from German made exports to the USA back to Germany?
This is my sig.
Only people in Austin call it the live music capital of the world.
Like what I said? You might like my music
From what I read, the California energy situation had more to do with Enron than with poor planning. When we've privatized something the public absolutely has to have and scarcity is profitable, scarcity is what you get. By design.
1) The environmentalism is environmental wacko ("Wind power? Those towers are ugly!")
2) Your competitors invest in technology but you don't
One of the problem the U.S. has is that we decided not to invest in battery/hybrid/flex fuel vehicles because it was considered too expensive. That would only have been a sound economic decision if everyone else made the same decision. But Japan did. So now, the only battery/hybrid/flex fuel vehicles are made outside the U.S. and U.S. auto-makers are scrambling to catch-up or they go out of business. This is a case where environmentalism and economies were 100% in line.
Same goes with power plants. You can't regulate power prices and refuse to build new power plants. That has nothing to do with environmentalism, it's just a stupid economic decision. And now that oil prices are on the rise, we see that building other forms of power plants is not only environmentally friend, but it is also becoming economical.
This isn't a case where California made the choice to be "green" -- it is a case where California, like much of the U.S. chose not to be green, and they are paying the price. But at least they don't have those ugly wind farms blocking the beautiful views.
Coincidentally, AMD and Intel also have a huge presence here in Austin, the capital city of Texas, and I guess they could've/should've opposed this on the grounds that stifling competition is bad for the industry, but there is no chance they would've for two reasons: fear of pissing off Dell and HP, and fear of looking like they're anti-environment.
How is forcing everyone in the state to pay a little bit more for a product automatically favoring HP or Dell? I don't see why AMD or Intel should complain at all. Unless you want to say that they should complain because they might both be made to think about how to make their products more recyclable? If it's a government rule put out on everyone, then no one has an advantage except those that don't follow the rules. Are you saying small businesses shouldn't have to recycle or pay a recycling tax because they are small businesses?
Prov 9:8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
Bullshit. The reality, for those curious, is that captive markets + deregulation and consumers hate each other. The energy debacle in Cali had one single root cause: deregulation. It's just that simple. Good like finding a republican who will admit *that*, though...