House approves producer‑responsibility electronic‑waste recycling bill after contentious debate

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House on March 5 passed a second substitute to House Bill 153, establishing a producer‑responsibility market‑share program for household electronic waste that backers say will recapture recycling fees built into product prices and direct them to local recycling services.

Representative Rebecca Edwards, the bill sponsor, told colleagues the measure is a fairness fix: "We shouldn't have to pay twice," she said, arguing that Utah consumers already pay for recycling in product prices but do not receive matching local service. The bill initially applies to a "county of the first or second class" and allows other counties to opt in.

Under the bill's fiscal structure, manufacturers would pay an initial registration fee (sponsor cited $3,000 per manufacturer for the first year) and ongoing market‑share fees, with a restricted account administered through the Division of…