Indiana Achieves Firsts in Racing and, now, E-waste

It’s been 100 years since the first of 3.2 million bricks were set on top of a crushed-stone-and-tar base to create a race track just outside of Indiana’s state capital. What began as “the Brickyard” in 1909 has become the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of this weekend’s Indy 500, and an oval-shaped launch pad for many historic firsts.

My Hoosier grandfather used to talk about many of the racecar drivers from the formative years of the Indy 500. One captivating driver in particular dominated many memorable conversations – Howdy Wilcox, winner of the 1919 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, who was the first driver to cross the finish line after World War I.

Ninety years ago, Howdy became the first driver to run a qualifying lap at more than 100 miles per hour. He was the first driver to be directly affiliated with the speedway itself, as his blue Peugeot land flyer was owned and entered by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Above all else, Howdy was a proud Hoosier – a homegrown hero from the town of Crawfordsville, Ind., and when he won the race in 1919, the crowd sang Back Home Again in Indiana at the conclusion of the race, marking the first time for what has become an Indy 500 tradition.

So I’ve come to associate Indiana with many fast-moving firsts, including one recent addition that didn’t zoom past us at Redemtech at 220 miles per hour. Last week, Indiana became the first state this year to pass a major electronics recycling law, making the Hoosier State the 19th state to pass rules for creating a statewide e-waste recycling program.

Perhaps the passage of an e-waste law does not capture the same allure and excitement of 33 screaming race cars soaring around a two-and-a-half-mile track in what many consider the ultimate race in the world of sports, but it’s the kind of first that gives hope that things are changing.

Just as the original brick track was eventually paved to accommodate faster cars, changes in e-waste laws across the nation are sorely needed to pave the way for better methods of managing what has become a serious crisis. The public and more businesses are now aware of what happens to most of the world’s discarded computers and other electronics – overseas dumping in developing nations, prison demanufacturing programs, landfilling and incineration – all of which introduce the toxic materials from which computer hardware is manufactured into the environment. 

The Indiana law requires manufacturers to collect and recycle 60 percent by weight of the volume of products they sold in the state during the previous year. After the first two years, manufacturers who fail to meet these state-mandated goals will pay an additional recycling fee for every pound they fall short. The program allows consumers, small businesses and public schools to recycle a larger group of products for free, including computers, laptops, keyboards, televisions and other electronics.

Several other states, including Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin, are considering their own e-waste recycling or electronics takeback laws. That’s good news for all of us.

My Hoosier grandfather’s favorite story about Howdy Wilcox related to another first. As the story goes, in 1915, when Howdy was preparing to drive his Stutz racecar to determine the first pole position in that year’s Indianapolis 500, he was so certain that he would win that he made a bet with Harry Stutz, founder of the Stutz Motor Company and producer of the legendary Stutz Bearcat. Howdy somehow got Stutz to agree to give him a diamond lapel pin the carmaker often wore to the Indy 500 if he could attain the fastest speed and earn the pole position.

At 98.9 miles per hour, Howdy achieved his goal and won the diamond lapel pin. Let’s hope Indiana pursues its e-waste with the same success.