The consumer electronics industry has been taking steps to provide more environmentally-friendly products, but at the same time, there are signs of growing concern that the green initiatives will hurt the bottom line — or make the problem worse.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced last week, the reactivation of the Set-Top Box Energy Consumption working group, R4 WG13. The Video Systems Committee working group will help to develop standards to measure energy consumption in televisions and other related video technologies and devices. This working group created CEA-2013, Digital STB Background Power Consumption and CEA-2022, Digital STB Active Power Consumption Measurement.

CEA materials states that "CEA and its members are committed to increasing awareness of environmentally-friendly products, programs, standards and practices within the consumer electronics industry." On the other side of this, however, the CEA’s online "Government Alert" warned that "New York City Finalizes Onerous E-Waste Law," and "New Study Shows Damaging Affects of Proposed CA TV Mandate."

On April 15, the New York City Department of Sanitation finalized regulations implementing the Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act. The legislation requires any electronics manufacturer that sells products in NYC to accept their products for recycling at no cost to the consumer. Effective July 1, 2010, it will be illegal for any person in NYC to discard any covered electronic equipment as trash.

At present, some nineteen states have e-waste recycling laws, and more are being written. All the states with current e-waste laws, except for California, have adopted "producer takeback," or producer responsibility, laws that require the manufacturers to pay for the collection and recycling of old products. With different states having a hodgepodge of different laws, the CEA is looking into pursuing a national framework for electronics recycling.

The CEA also released a report stating that the "California TV Mandate Would Cost Jobs, Reduce State Revenue and Limit Consumer Choice." Among its findings, the study says that "California will lose $50 million in sales tax revenue and 4,600 jobs statewide, as a result of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) proposal to set arbitrary limits on television electricity usage." The study concludes several deleterious effects of the law, including, store closings and increased unemployment, increased retail prices, and reduced choice and decreased industry competition (83% of LCD TVs measuring 24-34 inches, 80% of current 35-39 inch LCD TVs, and 100% of current plasma TV models larger than 60 inches will be eliminated under new rules).

Clearly, the issue is complex. Manufacturers are willing to be environmentally sensitive–EnergyStar is a voluntary program that has had great success–but they need to make a profit, too. Recycling businesses are now gearing up to handle e-waste, but that will take time and investment. Meanwhile, local laws like that in NYC are essentially dumping the problem (literally) and the cost on someone else. The environmental group Greenpeace claims that up to 80% of e-waste from Europe fails to be disposed of safely, with some of it disguised as second-hand goods, and shipped off to Nigeria, where it is sold, scrapped or illegally dumped. The U.S. needs a coordinated policy that takes into account the many business, ecological, and global factors that are affected by e-waste. "Not in my backyard" is not an effective strategy.