Can businesses dump E-waste?

Question

Can a business legally dump their PCs and other electronic waste into their dumpster which is headed for a public landfill? What does the law say? I want an answer from a strictly legal standpoint, not ethical.

Answer 1

Your PC, if determined to contain Hazardous Materials, would be subject to RCRA regulations.

If your company is a registered RCRA generator, then it would be in their best interest to recycle them (in order to comply with waste minization regulations as applicable to RCRA).

Batteries are a hazardous material in RCRA.  But, if you are not a RCRA generator, you would be able to dump them in any dumpster, provided they did not weigh more than 220 pounds per month accumulated total.

Each state would enforce RCRA as it saw fit.  The best thing to do would be to contact your state Hazardous Waste division of your State Department of Environmental Quality and ask them for  a clarification of the rules as it applies to your business.

Your computer can contain hazardous materials and should not be disposed of in a landfill if possible.

Answer 2

There is no law on the books either federal nor state law, that REQUIRES the recycling of electronic wastes.