The End of Eco-Fees?

[William Park]

On Sun, Jun 30, 2013 at 11:07:04PM -0400, Bob Jonkman wrote:
> 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.

Hmm, I see your point.  But, isn't there opportunity here?  
Because, moving it into "cost of business" and away from "tax" is
generally good thing, because it allows companies to do what they do
best, ie. cut cost.  Couldn't those recyclers make deals with importers,
manufacturers, or branch offices?  Keeping in mind that most products
are "Made in China". :-)
-- 
William
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