Following a successful trial with temporary e-scrap collection depots around Manitoba — where over 330 tons of end-of-life electronics were gathered — Conservation Minister Stan Struthers and Energy Minister Jim Rondeau released draft stewardship regulations this week for a permanent e-scrap collection program.

The proposed regulation sets up a stewardship board that consists of electronics manufacturers and retailers. The program would be funded by consumer-paid advanced recovery fees (ARFs) expected to run between $5 and $45 ($Cn) — similar to what is being charged by e-scrap programs in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan — and covers televisions, laptop and desktop computers, printers, personal digital assistants and microwaves.

In Nova Scotia, Electronics Product Stewardship Canada (Ottawa) submitted a program draft proposal this past summer to the province's Environment and Labour department, which also would use an ARF-based system similar to the one proposed in Manitoba. The proposed program diverts scrap electronics from landfill beginning on February 1, 2008, as required by Nova Scotia's Electronic Products Stewardship Program Regulation.

In the first phase of the program, covered electronics would include: Televisions and monitors, laptop and desktop computers, as well as computer peripherals and printers. More equipment, such as fax machines and telephones, would be added later in a second phase expected to be in place by February 1, 2009.

A PDF of the draft Manitoba Electrical and Electronic Equipment Stewardship Regulation is available here and a PDF of the Proposal for an End-of-Life Electronics Stewardship Program for Nova Scotia is available here.