Your computer is past its prime. Your cell phone is yesterday's news and your television looks fuzzy and blue. What now?

Computers and their electronic components are bound to grow old, and because of it, they represent the fastest-growing waste in dumps across the country.

Many states, including Montana, are now considering legislation to tackle the issue of electronic waste and make it easier to recycle the material.

But in Montana, a bill to make recycling used electronics easier was tabled in committee last week over concerns that the costs associated with running the program were too high.

Several amendments have since been made to HB 258, giving Matt Elsaesser, founder of the Helena-based group Student Advocates for Valuing the Environment, hope that the bill will now make its way to the floor for a vote.

"Electronic recycling is a problem that Montana will deal with much more in the coming years," Elsaesser said. "Already, more than six tons of electronic waste is sent to the Billings landfill every day."

Not only do the components take up space, Elsaesser said, they also contain hazardous materials including lead, mercury, cadmium and barium. Some components even include gold.

Much of the material is recyclable, from steel screws and brackets to the copper cables and circuit boards. Glass from computer monitors and television screens can be melted down to recover lead. Rubber drive belts can be shredded for reuse.

Sandra Boggs, the recycling and marketing specialist with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, said 169 tons of electronics were recycled last year at drives across the state.

More than 10 tons were collected in Helena, 80 tons in Bozeman and six tons in Missoula. The material was sent to Inland ReTech in Spokane and Tatooine Electronic Systems in Billings.

"It shows a real interest on the part of Montana," said Boggs. "People have electronics stuck in their basements and garages and are just waiting for an opportunity to recycle them."

Jeff Stumpf, president of Tatooine Electronic Systems, said his Wyoming-based recycling center is booming with business.

Stumpf credits a growing awareness for the rise in recycled items, though he admits the effort has a long way to go if it hopes to recover enough material to reverse the amount of energy used to make it.

"The nation isn't recycling hardly anything," Stumpf said. "We're nowhere near where we need to be. When we talk about energy usage and power consumption, we can save an enormous amount through better recycling. We need to get more efficient."

Stumpf said that aluminum, while it's the most abundant metal on the planet, is also the hardest to refine.

EPA estimates suggest that recycling a single pop can could save enough energy to run a laptop computer for three hours. The nation discards enough aluminum in a single year to rebuild its entire fleet of commercial jetliners.

"We want to put landfills out of business," Stumpf said. "In a lot of ways, that's not an impossible thing to do."

Brian Spangler, the business and community assistance program manager for DEQ, said the agency fully supports electronic recycling, though by policy it remains neutral in supporting the E-Waste bill.

Spangler said the state will host a second recycling drive in major cities this year. It's also seeking a grant to bring similar drives to smaller towns.

"Any time we can recycle things, we're saving energy costs," Spangler said. "Recycling electronics is something that's important to us. We see it as a growing need in the state right now."

Texas has turned to prison labor to help tackle E-Waste. Texas law requires all computers from state agencies and universities to be refurbished by prison labor and returned to schools. Equipment that's too old to repair is recycled.

City councils in several smaller Texas towns have also passed resolutions that favor programs that hold manufacturers responsible for recycling costs.

While the need is there -- and while it promises to grow in coming years -- building the infrastructure to accommodate recycling takes time.

Lou Moore, chief of the DEQ's air, energy and pollution prevention bureau, said the work accomplished over the summer was a good start.

Still, she said, the state's relatively small population and long transportation routes pose challenges in making recycling cost effective.

"Any time you look at recycling, the consumer has to want it and be willing to use it," Moore said. "The businesses also have to be in place. They need enough volume coming in to make it worthwhile."

Stumpf said successful recycling, whether it's cardboard or computer motherboards, is based on tonnage.

"The more tonnage you have, the easier it is, the cheaper is, and the more economical it is to recycle it," he said.

Waste-water bill clears House

While the E-Waste bill remains in committee, a second bill to recycle household wastewater for irrigation easily passed the House this week.

Matt Elsaesser, executive director of S.A.V.E., said gray water can help alleviate water shortages in arid environments.

Under the new law, water from dishwashers, showers, baths and washing machines could be directed to a filtration system. The resulting "gray water" would then be used to irrigate plants and lawns, saving the homeowner 30 to 40 percent on their water bill.

Elsaesser said the cost of retrofitting a filtration system into an existing home can be expensive. The bill would permit the system to be used in new construction.

"Right now, there's only one definition for household wastewater and it's all considered black water," Elsaesser said. "Gray water would create a separate category which already exists in a dozen states. It's pretty much a no-brainer."

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or mkidston@helenair.com