Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

E-Waste Bill Moves to State Assembly

The California Assembly is expected to consider a bill this week that prevents the sale of electronic products that contain certain toxins. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

E-Waste Bill Moves to State Assembly

The California Assembly is expected to consider a bill this week that prevents the sale of electronic products that contain certain toxins. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

Most cell phones and other electronic products we use every day are made using toxic substances like lead, cadmium and mercury. The EPA says most of the toxic heavy metals found in landfills are from electronic waste. San Diego Assemblywoman Lori Saldana says the E-Waste bill she introduced would keep those harmful toxins from polluting our landfills.

Advertisement

Saldana: If people don't dispose of them properly they wind up in the landfill which then gets into our soil, sometimes into groundwater and it's really more expensive to deal with it after the fact. So this is the goal to prevent that pollution from having to be dealt with in the future.

Saldana says the bill would require electronics manufacturers to phase out the hazardous materials in their products by 2010. The European Union passed a similar law last year. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.