March 15, 2024

                                                                                                                                                   Contacts:

NEWS RELEASE:                                                                                                                           Senator Robert Cowles – (608) 266-0484

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                              Representative Jeff Mursau – (608) 237-9136

Senator Cowles, Representative Mursau’s Bill

to Improve Electronic Recycling Signed into Law

MADISON – Senator Robert Cowles (R-Green Bay) and Representative Jeff Mursau (R-Crivitz) released the following statement after the Governor signed Senate Bill 866 into law yesterday as 2023 Wisconsin Act 108:

“Wisconsin’s E-Cycle program has been massively successful in keeping millions of tons of obsolete electronic waste out of our local landfills, and putting these valuable materials into newer devices,” Senator Cowles stated. “But as targets for recycling shift, the state should be able to adapt and keep the program operating efficiently without unnecessarily punishing program participants. Updating our guidelines under Act 108 will keep E-Cycle Wisconsin a modern, practical tool that benefits manufacturers, collectors, recyclers, and consumers across Wisconsin.”

“Through the E-Cycle Wisconsin program, we collect and recycle certain electronics and keep them out of our landfills”, Representative Mursau stated. “To date, more than 370 million pounds of electronics have been recycled. The Wisconsin program is a great success story, and often recognized across the country as being one of the best!”

Act 108 makes a series of changes to current statutes overseeing the E-Cycle Wisconsin program. Under this new law, the annual manufacturer recycling target is amended – per a recommendation from the Department of Natural Resources – to make the target more realistic and prevent the need for shortfall penalties. These changes also adjust necessary reporting requirements, slightly increase manufacturer registration fees, update the eligible list of collected electronics, and require rulemaking to provide more clarity on shortfall penalties to program participants. Act 108 follows 2021 Wisconsin Act 79, also authored by Representative Mursau and Senator Cowles, which made other changes to the E-Cycle Wisconsin program last session.

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