Santa Cruz County Municipal Code § 7.20.320 Meeting e-waste recycling standards

(A) No person shall collect any electronic device for recycling in the unincorporated area of the County unless the electronic device will be delivered to a certified electronic device recycler and meets all other standards required by the County, regardless of that certified electronic device recycler's physical location.

(B) No electronic device recycler located within the unincorporated area of the County shall accept any electronic device for recycling unless that recycler is a certified electronic device recycler and meets all other standards required by the County and applicable law.

(C) Basel Action Network e-Stewards Recycler is designated as the initial acceptable third-party e-waste recycling certification standard. The Board of Supervisors, by resolution, may select different certification programs as new standards evolve. The Director shall provide information about any change in standards to collectors, recyclers, and the community, using whatever means the Director, in the Director's sole discretion, determines would be most appropriate.

(Ord. 5383 § 2, 2021)

(A) All notices of e-waste collection events, activities, or programs open or available to the public, whether mailed, delivered directly, or placed as advertisements in any media, must include the electronic device collector's name, address, telephone number, web site address (if any), and the name of a contact person.

(B) All notices of e-waste collection events must indicate that all collected materials will be delivered to a certified electronic device recycler as required in this chapter and must specify the certified electronic device recycler(s) to which the materials will be delivered.

(C) Information required in subsections (A) and (B) of this section must be prominently displayed at any e-waste collection event open or available to the public.

(D) No less than 10 days before the beginning of any e-waste collection event, notification including all information in subsections (A) and (B) of this section must be provided to the County of Santa Cruz by email to dpwweb@santacruzcounty.us or in person or by mail to the address below:

(Ord. 5383 § 2, 2021)

(A) The County recognizes that electronic components are being included in an increasing number of products, some of which may be impractical to process as e-waste due to size, composition, or complexity.

(B) The Director, at their sole discretion, may exempt a product or product category from the requirements set forth in this article upon demonstration that this article would create an undue hardship or practical difficulty. The Director's decision to grant or deny an exemption shall be in writing, and shall be final and without appeal.

(C) The Director may include new products or reinstate previously exempted products to the requirements set forth in this article at their discretion with no less than 30 days' written public notice.

(D) An exemption from processing certain materials as e-waste does not exempt electronic device collectors or electronic device recyclers from other requirements for proper recycling or disposal of other discarded materials.

(E) To the extent this chapter or article is preempted by an express provision of State or Federal law, that express provision of State or Federal law shall control.

(F) To the extent applicable law and regulations governing a governmental entity prohibit application of this chapter or Article to electronic device recycling organized in whole or in part by a governmental entity, this article does not apply.

(Ord. 5383 § 2, 2021)