First "Fan Mail" from Secondhand, Right To Repair in Connecticut

Got a letter from a resident in Connecticut this morning, who had just finished reading Adam Minter's new book "Secondhand".  I won't expect many of them, but figured I could be public in my response as to why Connecticut is the ONLY state in the Northeast we do NOT collect used electronics from.

The history has to do with the regulators who wanted to apply hazardous "Universal Waste Rule" regulations to used electronics, effectively classifying "Secondhand" as "Waste" under RCRA. A regulator once told me he believed he could legally take away my smart phone if it was "non-working".  

Here's the response to our fan in Connecticut...

Hi Chris, 

Thanks so much.  

Ironically, I was Division Director at Massachusetts DEP when Tom Metzner was writing the regs for your Connecticut. We split over the issues (exports, and what I felt was racially profiling the tech sector in emerging markets) that keep my company (established 2001 when I left MA DEP) from doing business in Connecticut (the only state we don't collect in). In Tom's defense, we were both being bombarded with propaganda from the hazardous waste and Big Shred sectors. I was just fortunate to have travelled to meet the people who were trying to buy stuff, and having surveyed 200+ TV and computer repair shops in New England (who explained a TV is a lot more hazardous plugged into a wall and broadcasting ads in your living room than it is in a landfill or recycling yard).
Yep, we accept 1) anything with a cord, and 2) cordless electronics.  

If you want to contribute further, or spread the word, visit WR3A.org or its new website fairtraderecycling.net, a non-profit that acts as an "anti-defamation league" for geeks of color. 

Robin

Peace Corps Cameroun Robin 1985

The "Right to Repair" is not just for Do-It-Yourselfers, even if those are the most vocal supporters. It is EVERYONE'S right to sell something that someone else can fix.  It is EVERYONE's Right, under EPA RCRA, to DETERMINE whether a possession is "waste" or a "commodity" (up until it is speculatively accumulated, like a "tire pile").

Is it any wonder at all that the "non-profit" who promotes racial profiling of the Tech Sector (#FreeJoeBenson) in emerging markets is almost completely funded by the opponents of Right To Repair?  Planned Obsolescence industries consider reuse and repair to be "Market Cannibalization" (a term I first heard while I was at Mass DEP, spoken by the world leader in selling printer ink cartridges).  RE-Read "Trading on Distortion" by Dr. Josh Lepawsky (2016) to understand where the money comes from in depicting African, Asian, Oceania, and South Americans as "hillbillies".

If the Manufacturers don't want us to repair it or re-sell it, then LEASE it to us, don't sell it to us, get your money up front, and then try to twist "waste" regulations around our feet like a power cord.

2019 / The Next Generation