AUSTIN, Texas - January is the busiest time of the year for electronics donations at Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, which is dedicated to reusing and recycling the gear to keep it out of landfills. Texas also has a "take-back" law, under which computer companies are supposed to help dispose of old machines in an environmentally responsible manner.

Christine Banks, Goodwill's vice president of environmental business, says Dell partners with them for computer recycling, and she hopes the State Legislature will put teeth into the take-back law so more companies will step up. She wants to see television manufacturers on board, too. Most donated TVs have to be sent out of state for recycling, since they have no resale value, says Banks.

"That's not a revenue generator. We do it, but we would like to see some sort of responsibility taken by the manufacturers."

A TV recycling law was vetoed last year by the governor. Best Buy stores accept old television sets for a small fee, and a few TV-makers have partnered with the City of Dallas and other locations for recycling. (Find the list of dropoff sites online at TexasTakeBack.org.)

According to Robin Schneider, executive director of the Texas Campaign for the Environment, computer companies make it easier for consumers to drop off outdated products in other states. She says it's time that Texas became more of a priority.

"They know how to sell us their materials, and they know in other states how to collect them back. They're just not giving us the same service that they're giving consumers in other parts of the country."

A report from the Texas Campaign for the Environment found last year that the state was last in the country for its rate of computer recycling.


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Starting this week, the state is taking applications for a program to pay up to $1 dollar a square foot of turf to replace water-guzzling grass with drought-resistant landscaping.

Michael Sanchez, Public Information Officer with the state Division of Water Resources said cultivating a lush, green lawn in Utah's bone-dry climate is a major water waster.

"We do live in a semi-arid state," Sanchez said. "As you know, Utah has a different landscape than something like Kentucky, where you have things like bluegrass everywhere. It's just matching our landscapes to where we actually live."

According to data from the Division of Water Resources, Utah's system of reservoirs ended the 2022 water year at just 36% capacity. Officials said while Utah had a better-than-average snow pack this past season, it wasn't enough to keep up with the state's growing demand
for water.

The Utah Legislature approved a $5-million dollar expenditure to fund a statewide grass-removal rebate program. Participants will have a year to complete their landscaping project, which includes removing the old turf and replacing it with drought-resistant vegetation approved for their part of the state. Sanchez said swapping out the turf even in small areas can bring considerable savings.

"Just based on a quarter-acre lot," Sanchez said, "the amount of water used on that lot is about 3,000 gallons with each watering. So just moving to something less water-intensive could be something that could save a lot of water."

The state is starting this fall with a pilot program in Washington County, including residents in St. George, Washington, Santa Clara, and Ivins, but it will be fully implemented next spring.

Similar turf-removal programs have been successful in neighboring states, where cities such as Scottsdale and Las Vegas have swapped millions of square feet of grass for water-efficient landscapes to save billions of gallons of water.

The California State Assembly is expected to vote this week on a bill that would phase out some of the plastics used in online shipping because they clog up landfills and harm marine life.

Assembly Bill 2026 would force companies mailing packages to and from California to find more sustainable packaging and phase out plastic mailers, bubble wrap, air pillows, molded polystyrene and loose fill such as packaging peanuts.

Ashley Blacow-Draeger, Pacific policy and communications manager for the nonprofit conservation group Oceana, said most of these items never get recycled.

"The majority of that is landfilled and makes its way into the environment where it harms marine life," she said, "and it also interferes with the ability to recycle, as it contaminates recycling, it gums up the machines."

Friday is the deadline to pass any and all bills out of the Assembly. Opponents have said manufacturers would have to spend money to switch over to new packaging types, which could result in higher prices for consumers. Supporters have noted that Amazon already has moved to eliminate plastic packaging in India and has announced plans to do so in Germany.

Blacow-Draeger said a huge amount of plastic ends up in the ocean, where it can lead marine life to suffocate or starve.

"They can choke on the plastic pieces when ingested, or it can create a false sense of feeling full," she said. "And so, they feel like they've been eating their natural food in the ocean - but in fact, their stomachs are being filled with plastic pieces."

The bill would make exceptions for plastics used in shipping certain medicines, medical devices and some types of food.

This Earth Day, Americans will be reminded of the need to take steps to protect the environment.

Wind turbines are a leading clean-energy source, and the industry is looking inward to eliminate its own waste. Drive around states like Iowa, and you're bound to see rows of wind turbines hard at work. But when those spinning blades are taken out of commission, they're often sent to landfills.

To minimize waste, technology is surfacing to give these items new life, at a wind farm or in other products.

Taylor Curtis, regulatory and policy analyst for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (N-REL), said it comes at a crucial time for the industry.

"Over the last few decades, we've put [out] a tremendous amount of wind systems connected to the grid," Curtis pointed out. "But they are legacy systems and there is a projection of having a pretty large amount of materials reaching ends of life by 2050."

A 2017 study estimated there will be 43 million metric tons of global blade waste more than two decades from now.

N-REL recently demonstrated the feasibility of technology for blade recycling, with a thermoplastic resin which can be melted down and reused.

Curtis acknowledged a key challenge is motiving others in the industry to forgo blade disposal, which right now is viewed as the easier approach.

Grady Howell, project manager for Vestas Blades, which has been involved with bringing similar technology to the market, said the movement is not just about getting material from old blades back into circulation. He emphasized it can be put to use elsewhere, like cement.

"What you do is you take this blade, you break it down, you put it into the cement coat-processing process," Howell outlined. "They get the fuel out of it to fire their kiln, and they also do get some of that glass that ends up then in the concrete. And you actually kind-of end up with a fiber-reinforced cement."

Companies like Vestas admitted those producing the technology still have a lot of work to do to build up capacity and make it more commercially viable.

Curtis added policymakers can help by supporting more research and accessibility for the products.

"Right now is a great opportunity to get ahead of what could be a potential waste concern," Curtis concluded.