R2v3 Certified Facilities in California

The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 — SB 20, codified at Public Resources Code §42460 et seq. — established the regime. SB 1215 extended it in 2022 to cover battery-embedded products from 2026.

Sources: CalRecycle, Electronic Waste statutes

The landfill ban covers your servers

This is the part most summaries get wrong, because most summaries are written for consumers. California's prohibition is not limited to televisions and monitors. Under 22 CCR §66273.9 and §66273.3, discarded electronics exhibiting hazardous-waste toxicity are classified as universal waste, and the covered categories explicitly include CRT and flat-panel displays, computers and towers, servers and mainframes, data storage arrays and hard drives, and peripherals, printers, phones and telecommunications equipment.

22 CCR §66273.31(a): “A universal waste handler is prohibited from disposing of universal waste.” It applies to businesses and households alike. There is no commercial exemption.

Sources: 22 CCR §66273.9 · 22 CCR §66273.31 · DTSC, Electronic Hazardous Waste

Verification is your liability shield, and the statute says so

Under 22 CCR §66273.31 and §66273.38, a business cannot send electronic waste to an unpermitted point. It must go to an authorized universal waste handler, transporter, or permitted destination facility. And under Health and Safety Code §25189.2(e), a business generator avoids liability for downstream disposal only if it has taken reasonable steps to verify that the vendor is authorized to accept the waste.

In California, checking your vendor's authorization is not good practice. It is the condition on which your liability for what happens downstream depends.

Sources: 22 CCR §66273.31 · 22 CCR §66273.38 · HSC §25189.2

What you must keep

A business shipping universal waste offsite is a universal waste handler. Universal waste does not require a hazardous waste manifest — a bill of lading, invoice or shipping log is sufficient — but under 22 CCR §66273.39(c)–(d) you must keep a record of every outbound shipment showing the date, the receiving facility's name and address, and the quantity and type of devices. Retained for at least three years.

Sources: 22 CCR §66273.39

Thresholds: accumulate 5,000 kg (roughly 11,000 lb) or more at any time and you need an EPA ID number. Generate 5,000 kg or more in a calendar year and you must file an annual report with DTSC by 1 February. Under 100 kg per month and outbound record-keeping is excused, provided the equipment goes to an authorized handler.

Sources: DTSC, Electronic Hazardous Waste

Penalties

Civil: up to $70,000 per violation under HSC §25189.2(c), with each day the waste remains deposited a separate violation. Intentional disposal carries $1,000 to $70,000 per violation under §25189(c), plus continuing daily fines. Criminal: knowingly disposing of hazardous waste at an unauthorized point carries up to one year imprisonment and a mandatory fine of $5,000 to $100,000 per day — rising to $250,000 per day where great bodily injury or risk of death results.

Sources: HSC §25189.2 · HSC §25189.5

On the data — and California is different here

California has a mandatory records-destruction statute, which most states do not. Civil Code §1798.81: “A business shall take all reasonable steps to dispose, or arrange for the disposal, of customer records within its custody or control containing personal information when the records are no longer to be retained by the business by (a) shredding, (b) erasing, or (c) otherwise modifying the personal information in those records to make it unreadable or undecipherable through any means.”

And Civil Code §1798.84 gives the customer a private right of action. In most states a records-disposal failure is enforced by the Attorney General. In California, an individual whose records were improperly disposed of can sue your business directly for damages and injunctive relief.

Sources: Civil Code §1798.81 · Civil Code §1798.84

Breach notification is separate, under Civil Code §1798.82 — expedient disclosure without unreasonable delay, and written notice to the Attorney General where more than 500 California residents are affected.

Sources: Civil Code §1798.82

The gap nobody budgets for

California's fee program does not pay for your equipment. The Advance Recycling Fee funds the Covered Electronic Waste program, which historically subsidizes video display devices over four inches — monitors, screens, laptops.

Servers, storage arrays, network switches and headless workstations are not covered. A business funds the disposition of its enterprise infrastructure entirely itself, while remaining fully subject to the disposal ban and the $70,000-per-day exposure.

Sources: CalRecycle, Covered Electronic Waste program

Two agencies, and they do different things. DTSC, within CalEPA, regulates and enforces hazardous and universal waste handling, storage, transport and recycling — that is the enforcement side. CalRecycle administers the Covered Electronic Waste payment system, approves collectors and recyclers, and enforces manufacturer compliance under the 2003 Act.

Sources: DTSC, Electronic Hazardous Waste · CalRecycle, Electronic Waste statutes

California is one of the few states with a genuine approved-vendor registry. CalRecycle publishes a directory of approved collectors and recyclers, and an eRecycle look-up.

Sources: CalRecycle, approved collectors and recyclers directory · CalRecycle, eRecycle look-up

That registry answers a different question than R2v3 does, and both matter. CalRecycle approval means a facility is authorized to accept covered e-waste and claim state recovery payments. R2v3 appendix scope tells you what it can actually do to a drive.

A facility can hold one without the other. This directory does not currently cross-reference the two, so a listing here is not a statement about CalRecycle approval either way — check the CalRecycle directory separately.

Sources: CalRecycle, Covered Electronic Waste program