Congress tackles e-waste in the House and nationally

If Congress can't figure out what to do with its old computers, members of the House of Representatives rationalized Wednesday, it's unlikely anyone else can. Electronic recycling programs have been conspicuously unsuccessful, prompting the House Science and Technology Committee to draft a bill to fund grants for higher education programs related to e-waste management, as well as grants for research and development to find ways to better manage e-waste through product design, reuse, and recycling. At a hearing Wednesday to review the initial draft of the bill, the legislators admitted they were not even sure what to do with their own used electronics and are unhappy with the way Congress disposes of its official electronic equipment.