HB 284 requires a business that operates in Texas and ships electronic equipment for recycling, reuse, or disposal, to an ultimate destination that is located outside of the United States to provide a quarterly report to the TCEQ.The report must include:the business' name; address and telephone number; the business' name of the chief executive officer or chief financial officer; the type and amount of each shipment of electronic equipment; the date of each shipment's debarkation; and each shipment's destination country.The bill authorizes the TCEQ to provide exemptions from compliance for shipments made for humanitarian reasons.

HB 284 follows the passage of HB 2714 by Rep. Bonnen from the 80th session. That new law requires computer manufacturers to offer a recycling/ take-back program, so that their customers may recycle their equipment instead of dumping it in a landfill.  The TCEQ has registered 60 manufacturers (representing 96 brands) in Texas to which the Take Back law applies (see attached list).  They usually contract with a recycler to do the recycling.

According to a 2008 report by the United States Government Accountability Office, many U.S. companies are exporting electronic equipment to developing countries for recycling.  Anywhere between 20-50 percent of electronic equipment sent to recycling centers in the United States actually ends up being shipped abroad.  According to statistics on electronics recycling in a 2005 EPA report, this can be anywhere between 72,000 and 180,000 tons a year. In many of these developing countries, unsafe practices can cause health and environmental problems for those populations.  Without a reporting requirement, it is difficult to ascertain how many tons of American electronics are being dumped in foreign countries every year.  According to the 2006 EPA report, 2 million tons of electronics were dumped that year.  About 15 to 20 percent of that was recycled.