According to an article in E-Scrap News March 2013, President Obama has nominated Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency. McCarthy is currently an assistant administrator at the EPA. She is best known for her work on air quality and has occupied several state-level positions where she sought to increase recycling rates and helped launch a new electronics recycling program. McCarthy has served under both Democrats and Republicans and is said to be a friend of the electronics recycling industry. This administration has taken an interest in electronics recycling, launching efforts to provide better stewardship of the large volume of electronics that are discarded every year.

My own commentary on this appointment is that presently there is no federal legislation regarding electronics recycling, rather it is a patchwork of individual state legislation, each uniquely different, that exists amongst only twenty-six states, Florida not being one of them. Perhaps under McCarthy’s leadership she will bring electronics recycling experience that may lead to federal legislation so that we all (states) are on the same page when it comes to dealing with responsible electronics recycling.