LAST week, Maine became the first state to require manufacturers
of computer monitors and televisions to pay for their recycling
and disposal. Washington, with a pending bill, may be next.
That's progress, right?  Computer recycling sounds like an
unmitigated good: it keeps hazardous components out of
incinerators and landfills, which researchers at Carnegie Mellon
University estimate already hold more than 60 million computers.
And by reusing glass, plastic, aluminum and heavy metals (like
lead, copper and mercury), recycling averts the energy use and
pollution linked with mining and drilling for new materials.
But because recycling in the United States is expensive,
hazardous and encumbered with environmental and safety
regulations, many companies that collect e-waste simply ship it
to underdeveloped nations. According to the Silicon Valley
Toxics Coalition and the Basel Action Network, up to 80 percent
of the material dropped off by well-meaning Americans at
community recycling events ends up bundled for