Maine passes cell phone recycling legislation

Chris Carlson

Legislation passed in June, which takes effect in January 2008, will make it illegal to throw away your old cell phones in Maine. State Rep. Christopher Babbidge, D-Maine, proposed the bill in 2005, which was patterned after similar legislation in California. “I originally wanted only to promote education and require all distributors to accept a phone for each one they sold,” he says. “The bottom line is to reduce the incidence of incineration and disposal in landfills, and to have the industry accept responsibility for proper disposal when consumers offer their phones.”