The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Commission Meeting #5, held on September 17, 2025, spotlighted the urgent need for enhanced electronic recycling initiatives across the United States. The meeting featured insights from the Executive Director of the National Center for Electronic Recycling, who emphasized the stagnation in state-level electronic recycling laws over the past decade.

Currently, only 25 states and the District of Columbia have implemented some form of electronic recycling legislation, with no new states joining this list since 2015. This lack of progress is particularly notable in New England, where Massachusetts and New Hampshire remain without such laws. The speaker highlighted that while discussions around a national electronic recycling program have been ongoing for over 20 years, these efforts have yet to yield a federal solution.

The meeting also reviewed the historical context of electronic recycling laws, tracing back to California's pioneering legislation in 2003, which introduced a fee at the point of sale for new devices. Maine followed suit in 2004 with the first EPR law, leading to a wave of similar laws across the country. However, the momentum has significantly slowed, with no new states adopting EPR laws in recent years.

The Executive Director called for renewed collaboration among stakeholders, including state governments, manufacturers, and recyclers, to address the pressing challenges of electronic waste management. As the meeting concluded, the urgency for action was clear: without a concerted effort to expand and modernize electronic recycling laws, the environmental impact of electronic waste will continue to grow, leaving states like Massachusetts at a disadvantage in sustainable waste management practices.