Since January, Washington State residents and small businesses have been allowed to drop off their televisions, computers and computer monitors free of charge to one of 200 collection points around the state. They have responded by dumping more than 15 million pounds of electronic waste, according to state collection data. If disposal continues at this rate, it will amount to more than five pounds for every man, woman and child per year.

In Sri Lanka, the Environment Ministry is collecting massive amounts of money from mobile usage, in the name of recycling mobile phones. There are more TV sets in the country than mobiles and they are bigger and therefore constitute a greater threat. What is the Ministry doing with our money?

Full story.

Supreme Court today (Nov 01, 2008) ordered the suspension of three environmental levies imposed recently, reported Lanka Dissent.

Accordingly, the levies imposed on telecommunication towers, CFC bulbs of more than 40 Watts as well as the levy imposed on vehicles in the Western Province were directed to be suspended.

Should we open a bottle of Champaign? May be not. It was not LIRNEasia that took Environment Ministry to courts. Still we take pride in fighting against these irrational environmental levies which would have served nobody.

Some of our earlier blog posts:

Small Victory for LIRNEasia: Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court issues Interim Order against Tax on Mobile Phones and Telecom Towers (Sept 23, 2008)

Digital cigarettes (Sept 21, 2008)

Sri Lanka: Udaya Gammanpila says Environmental Levy does not burden public (Aug 19, 2008)

Sri Lanka: Road to ‘Dharma Rajya’ does not look ‘toll-free’ (Aug 14, 2008)

Sri Lanka: Taxing poor to clear the e-waste of rich (Aug 03, 2008)

Is mobile phone a polluter? (April 10, 2008)

“Green” tax to be imposed on mobiles? (Oct 30, 2007)

By the way, please note the 2% envy tax on mobile usage is still not off. So the battle is only half won.

If any reader wishes to offer their deepest condolences to Udaya Gammanpila, Chairman, Central Environmental Authority and Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Environment, about their failed attempts to irrationally burden a selected group of consumers to cover the recurring costs of Ministry of Environment, please feel free to use space below for the same. Guaranteed reading by both gentlemen. After all, LIRNEasia still comes within first ten Google hits for their names.