The United States has made headway, however, it still trails behind Europe and Japan in terms of legislation on take back and recycling programs for electronic equipment, as well as on legislation to phase-out the toxic chemicals that many electronics contain. 

While federal regulation remains lenient, individual states across the country are proposing legislation on e-waste, especially household hazardous waste. Currently, almost half the states in the U.S. have instituted bans on cathode ray tube or CRT monitors in municipal landfills due to the large lead content and the potential for toxic leaching.

Washington state recently passed one of the most comprehensive electronics recycling regulation and other states including Maine, Maryland, and California have passed similarly strong regulations. See sample legislation.
 
Currently, Pennsylvania has no legislation on e-waste. Write to your local and state representatives and voice your support for legislation to reduce e-waste. Help set the standards for safe and environmentally responsible electronics and improve every step in the life cycle of a computer, from its design to its manufacture and finally, its disposal.

A great deal of legislation is pushing for producer take back programs, which increases the manufacturer’s responsibility in making safer, less toxic design and component choices, as well as designating recycling programs for their products without cost to the consumer.

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an organization concerned with the environmental and health issues associated with the high-tech electronics industry, advocates for a sustainable electronics industry through several outreach campaigns including Extended Producer Responsibility (http://www.svtc.org), the International Campaign for Responsible Technology, and the Computer Take Back Campaign (www.computertakeback.com). The Campaign provides information on current state legislation as well as useful studies and tools for developing take back legislative solutions. The Computer Take Back Action Center helps you address your concerns to the EPA as well as some electronics corporations.

National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (http://www.ncel.net/) is an outlet for environmentally progressive legislators to share and coordinate their activities with national organizations.  

European Commission Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee_index.htm) is a piece of  legislation that delegates the responsibility to the producer to manage the electronic product throughout its life cycle (from cradle to grave), including the cost of the disposal of e-waste. The directive also calls for a phase-out of mercury, lead, and cadmium by 2008.

The National Safety Council (www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2/crt.htm), an organization concerned with the prevention of accidental injury and death, has information on proposed legislation for electronic equipment recycling.

Recycling Advocates (www.recyclingadvocates.org) is an Oregon based organization dedicated to National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI)

Product Stewardship Institute (www.productstewardship.us) is participating in a bi-partisan Congressional working group to develop a national legislative solution to the problem with electronics scrap. See PSI projects, electronics.