Buying a new television or computer will cost Alberta shoppers more as a new environmental fee designed to offset the cost of recycling electronics goes into effect today.

The levy, which ranges from $5 for a laptop computer to $45 for a large-screen television, will be collected by retailers and then given to the Alberta Recycling Management Authority to pay for its groundbreaking recycling system.

Even though the fund comes takes hold today, Calgarians still have no permanent collection sites for their electronics.

The city intends to create permanent sites and has launched a request for proposals from private companies.

Authority spokeswoman Kari Veno said the city led the pack in e-recycling with its local Spring Round-Up program.

The authority estimates Albertans dumped 190,000 televisions and 90,000 desktop computers into landfills last year.

That figure, said Veno, does not include electronics from schools and businesses.

The program is designed to divert toxins, heavy metals and man-made chemicals from leaching into landfills by taking apart electronics and recycling individual components.

The fee will help cover the costs associated with the program, the first of its kind in Canada.

"These funds are going to be used for the collection of the older materials, the transportation of the older electronics, as well as the recycling of the materials, public information programs and research," she said.

Initial projections estimate the program will pull in $8 million over the first year, but money raised will be used exclusively by the authority to maintain the electronic recycling program, said Veno.

Retailers are expected to gather the fees and then remit them to the authority -- similar to handing in GST funds to the government.

"Every municipality has to look at what will work for them," said Veno.

The city has been collecting unwanted electronics since 2001. The largest collection came last year when more than 313,000 kilograms of electronics were picked up.

Most Albertans said they would support paying a fee, provided the funds raised would go exclusively to recycling the electronics, said Veno.

"The vast majority agreed we needed to put something in place to be able to get these materials out of the landfills," she said.

Still, at electronics stores around Calgary, staff and customers had varying responses to the new fees.

Terry Winter had considered waiting to buy a television, but decided to purchase a new 27-inch model when she heard about the additional cash outlay Monday morning.

"Why wouldn't I go today, before the 'sale' is over?" she said, laughing.

Radio Shack assistant manager Stephanie Legget expected customers to make their purchases before the new fees take effect.

Leggett said they have had signs up in the store for the past week informing shoppers of the levy, and reactions have been mixed.

"People might be shocked and unhappy because a lot of them haven't heard about it or they won't understand where the taxes go," she said.

To help avoid confusion, Radio Shack will incorporate the new fees directly into product prices, said Leggett.

Over at B&B Computing Inc., general manager Bernd Boesmeyer is not looking forward to charging his customers more.

"My customers don't want to see it," he said. "It's just a BS tax."

Boesmeyer, who has been operating the store for 14 years, said the fees will hurt his independent business because of the time and resources involved with remitting the fee.

"The little guys are submitting to it and the big guys don't care," he said.

The authority considered having consumers pay the fees at the time of recycling, but Veno said the program would go broke paying out for the system without money coming in immediately.

"I don't know how much incentive there is for somebody to lug a TV or a computer just to get a few dollars," she added. She also said they will be examining the program as it gets underway to ensure the system is efficient for both retailers and the authority.

grichards@theherald.canwest.com

What You'll Pay Extra for Computers, TVs

Computers

- CPUs, including keyboard, mouse, cables and speakers, fee $10, approximate price $500 to $1,000

- Computer monitors, fee $12, approximate price $150 to $3,000 (for flat screens)

- Laptops and electronic notebooks, fee $5, approximate price $1,300 to $2,200

- Desktop printers and printer combinations, fee $8, approximate price $100 to $650

Televisions

- 18-inch screens or smaller, fee $15, approximate price $100

- 19 to 29-inch screens, fee $25, approximate price $180 to $700

- 30 to 45-inch screens, fee $30, approximate price between $550 and $7,000 (plasma screens)

- 46-inch screens or larger, including rear projection, fee $45, approximate price between $1,800 and $5,000

This story features a factbox "What you'll pay extra forcomputers, TVs".