The End of Eco-Fees?

[Bob Jonkman]

On 13-06-30 05:37 PM, Digimer wrote:
> On 06/30/2013 04:40 PM, Jon Thiele wrote:
>>
>> And what does this Toronto Star article have to do with Linux?
> 
> Linux runs on computers, and ever computer purchased of late has
> included these fees, so I think it is on topic enough.

Not only that, but there are computer refurbishers who are (partially,
an poorly[*]) funded by the eco-fees collected by the Ontario Electronic
Stewardship program. At Kitchener's Computer Recycling about half of
those computers are outfitted with some GNU+Linux distribution.
http://www.theworkingcentre.org/computer-recycling/2318-computer-recycling

And there were others who funded their refurbish-with-Linux programs
with the proceeds of other recycled material, eg.
http://freegeektoronto.org/

If those refurbishing and recycling programs are gone, I suspect there
will be less Linux in the environment too.  Without the recyclers  a lot
more e-waste will end up in landfills, and without the recycling
revenues or the OES subsidy the community-based refurbishes will lose
some of their funding.

Also, if the recycling fees are collected by the manufacturers then the
base price of new goods will go up, and I suspect the prices will go up
more than the current eco-fees.

So, while I'm generally a believer in "less government is good
government", here's a case where even a poorly run program has been good
for the environment and good for the GNU+Linux ecosystem too.

--Bob.

[*] The administrative overhead of the paperwork to receive the OES
subsidy was almost certainly greater than the subsidy itself.  But
ignoring the salary costs of existing employees is like getting work for
free, right?

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