Sec. 361.955. MANUFACTURER RESPONSIBILITIES

(a) Before a manufacturer may offer computer equipment for sale in this state, the manufacturer must:

(1) adopt and implement a recovery plan; and

(2) affix a permanent, readily visible label to the computer equipment with the manufacturer's brand.

(b) The recovery plan must enable a consumer to recycle computer equipment without paying a separate fee at the time of recycling and must include provisions for:

(1) the manufacturer's collection from a consumer of any computer equipment that has reached the end of its useful life and is labeled with the manufacturer's brand; and

(2) recycling or reuse of computer equipment collected under Subdivision (1).

(c) The collection of computer equipment provided under the recovery plan must be:

(1) reasonably convenient and available to consumers in this state; and

(2) designed to meet the collection needs of consumers in this state.

(d) Examples of collection methods that alone or combined meet the convenience requirements of this section include:

(1) a system by which the manufacturer or the manufacturer's designee offers the consumer a system for returning computer equipment by mail;

(2) a system using a physical collection site that the manufacturer or the manufacturer's designee keeps open and staffed and to which the consumer may return computer equipment; and

(3) a system using a collection event held by the manufacturer or the manufacturer's designee at which the consumer may return computer equipment.

(e) Collection services under this section may use existing collection and consolidation infrastructure for handling computer equipment and may include electronic recyclers and repair shops, recyclers of other commodities, reuse organizations, not-for-profit corporations, retailers, recyclers, and other suitable operations.

(f) The recovery plan must include information for the consumer on how and where to return the manufacturer's computer equipment. The manufacturer:

(1) shall include collection, recycling, and reuse information on the manufacturer's publicly available Internet site;

(2) shall provide collection, recycling, and reuse information to the commission; and

(3) may include collection, recycling, and reuse information in the packaging for or in other materials that accompany the manufacturer's computer equipment when the equipment is sold.

(g) Information about collection, recycling, and reuse on a manufacturer's publicly available Internet site does not constitute a determination by the commission that the manufacturer's recovery plan or actual practices are in compliance with this subchapter or other law.

(h) Each manufacturer shall submit a report to the commission not later than January 31 of each year that includes:

(1) the weight of computer equipment collected, recycled, and reused during the preceding calendar year; and

(2) documentation verifying the collection, recycling, and reuse of that computer equipment in a manner that complies with Section 361.964 regarding sound environmental management.

(i) If more than one person is a manufacturer of a certain brand of computer equipment as defined by Section 361.952, any of those persons may assume responsibility for and satisfy the obligations of a manufacturer under this subchapter for that brand. If none of those persons assumes responsibility or satisfies the obligations of a manufacturer for the computer equipment of that brand, the commission may consider any of those persons to be the responsible manufacturer for purposes of this subchapter.

(j) The obligations under this subchapter of a manufacturer who manufactures or manufactured computer equipment, or sells or sold computer equipment manufactured by others, under a brand that was previously used by a different person in the manufacture of the computer equipment extends to all computer equipment bearing that brand regardless of its date of manufacture.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 902 , Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.