The state Senate voted Wednesday to make the disposal of your old tech toys almost as easy as click-and-drag recycling.

Through a bill sponsored by Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, manufacturers would have to establish a program to collect, transport and dispose of old electronic products. For no additional charge, consumers would simply drop off their antiquated gadgets at local collection agencies.

"This bill has been through a great deal of negotiations and compromises between folks," Pridemore said. The proposal, prompted by the state Department of Ecology's two-year study of recycling alternatives for the toxic technology, passed 41-8.

Washington residents discard more than one million televisions and monitors each year, according to Ecology. And with a constant turnover of new gadgets - computers, televisions and iPods - Americans are disposing of about 2 million tons of e-junk each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

An average computer monitor contains six pounds of lead, which can seep into waterways, threatening nearby environment.

"Electronic waste is a problem growing by leaps and bounds," said Sen. Luke Esser, R-Bellevue.

But manufacturers, partners in the Ecology study, were discouraged by the solution. Dale Swanson, an environmental engineer for Panasonic, said manufacturers have no infrastructure to implement a recycling program.

Producers can establish their own recycling systems or opt into a coalition of producers to establish recycling infrastructure. To handle recycling services, television and computer manufacturers will have to pay as much as $10 per item sold.

Additionally, as has happened after a similar measure passed in Maine, foreign producers can be difficult to track down, and won't pay for their share of recycling.

"The established manufacturers have to pick up that cost," Swanson said "It puts an unfair disadvantage against manufacturers."

A number of private enterprises have already created recycling hubs to collect electronics for a small fee, and varying programs have been established in cities around the state.

Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland and Redmond, for example, offer curbside pickup along with regular recycling services at no additional cost to residents. Those cities negotiated with recyclers to add e-disposal to their regular routes.

"This is a hardly perfect bill, but it's a great step forward," Esser said.

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Also passed by the Senate Wednesday:

-A measure that would protect a state employee who leaves state service to serve in the Peace Corps or to participate in a program sponsored by a humanitarian organization or a faith-based mission - allowing that employee to return to his or her previous position, or an equivalent position.

-A joint memorial calling on Congress and the Bush administration to address concerns with the Medicare Part D program by upgrading the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services customer service system, providing additional funding to the states to lessen the burden of copays on dual eligibles and extending the enrollment period beyond the May 15, 2006, deadline.

-A measure that creates a separate chapter, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, in the Revised Code of Washington, to list the duties of the lieutenant governor as well as a list of the boards and committees on which the lieutenant governor serves.

-A measure that requires that after Dec. 31, health plans are required to cover prostate cancer screening if recommended by a patient's physician, advanced registered nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. The requirement applies to disability insurers, health care service contractors, health maintenance organizations, self-funded multi-employee welfare arrangements, the Basic Health Plan, the Uniform Medical Plan for state employees, and medical assistance programs provided by the Department of Social and Health Services.

-A measure that entitles an employee to a total of 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period following the birth of a child, the adoption of a child, or to care for a family member of the employee, if the family member has a serious health condition. The act applies to all employers in the state, including local governments, which employ 50 or more employees for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year.

-A measure to ban third parties from acquiring personal cell phone numbers and call records. Anyone who intentionally purchases, sells, or obtains those personal records could be charged with a low-ranking felony. Some Internet sites sell that phone information.

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The Peace Corps volunteers bill is Senate Bill 6010; the joint memorial on Medicare Part D is Senate Joint Memorial 8039; the lieutenant governor bill is Senate Bill 6246; the prostate cancer screening bill is Senate Bill 6188; the family and medical leave act is Senate Bill 6185; the e-waste bill is SB 6428; the cell phone measure is SB 6776.