Bloomberg to block New York's WEEE rules

New York Mayor argues polluter pays eWaste bill will place unfair burden on electronics manufacturers

Attempts to introduce eWaste legislation to New York have hit a major stumbling block after Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he will veto a City Council bill passed last week requiring electronics manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling their products.

Modelled on the EU's Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment legislation, the new bill follows the polluter pays principle and obliges electronics manufacturers to provide recycling programmes to handle the city's eWaste. Currently, the city authorities pick up the tab for disposing of over 25,000 tonnes of potentially hazardous electronic waste.

However, according to Associated Press reports Bloomberg is preparing to overturn the bill and has promised to not enforce the law if his veto is rejected.

Speaking on his radio show on Friday, the Mayor said the new rules would place an unfair burden on manufacturers and were akin to asking publishers to take responsibility over whether or not readers recycle their newspapers.

Officials from both the Mayor's Office and the City Council said that talks were underway to reach a compromise position.

Under the current proposals, manufacturers would have to start collecting products from 2009 and demonstrate that they collect a proportion of total waste electronics equivalent to their percentage of average annual sales.