STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3954

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1640

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 1640, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RECYCLING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Change the Electronic Waste and Television Recycling and Recovery Act to the Electronic Device Recycling and Recovery Act;

(2) Establish electronic device reporting requirements for manufacturers and collectors; and

(3) Establish the electronic device recycling working group.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from one member of the Hawai‘i County Council, Hawai‘i Reef and Ocean Coalition, Recycle Hawaii and Clean the Pacific, Restore the Commons, and three individuals. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the County of Hawai‘i Department of Environmental Management, Consumer Technology Association, and one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health, County of Kaua‘i Department of Public Works Solid Waste Management Division, County of Maui Department of Environmental Management, one member of the Hawai‘i County Council, Zero Waste Hawai‘i Island, Kauai's Women Caucus, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, and four individuals.

Your Committees find that ensuring that electronic waste does not end up in the State's landfills, or worse tossed on the side of the road, is critical to protecting public health and safety and the State's delicate environment. Recycling electronic waste allows for the recovery of valuable resources that could otherwise be hazardous to the environment. Under the current program, funding is insufficient, especially on the neighbor islands, and the program does not adequately cover in an equitable way the sheer volume of electronics being sold in the State. This measure will make the recycling of electronic devices easier by implementing manufacturer and collector reporting obligations and requirements, which will promote convenient electronic device recycling for the public.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1640, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and recommend that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair