Sprint CEO Dan Hesse.

Sprint CEO Dan Hesse was invited to write a guest post on the website for the President’s Council on Environmental Quality. Hesse wrote about the Obama Administration’s national e-waste recycling initiative, announced July 20.

“On July 20 the EPA invited Sprint, along with Dell and Sony, to Austin, Texas to be among the first corporations to publicly commit to follow a new national e-waste strategy. We were honored to join EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, General Services Administrator Martha Johnson, and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley as they issued the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship.

“The collaborative work of the EPA, General Services Administration (GSA), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the dozen additional agencies represented on the e-waste task force that developed the National Strategy over the past eight months is an example to all who manufacture and distribute electronic products. Sprint commends the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure that all electronics it uses are reused or recycled at a certified recycler. An e-waste solution will require on-going collaboration, shared commitment, accountability and meaningful action from companies in all sectors. I am proud that Sprint – along with Dell and Sony – has implemented sustainable business practices early on.”

Hesse described the company’s commitment to e-waste recycling in the blog post.

Sprint’s Electronics Stewardship Policy sets aggressive e-waste goals, including the collection of nine phones for reuse or recycling for every 10 sold by 2017. To date, Sprint has collected more than 25 million mobile phones— keeping them out of landfills, helping to conserve resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and preventing air and water pollution.

For the second year, Sprint received the Sustainability Leadership Award from the International Electronics Recycling Conference for our full-lifecycle product approach. On the design end, we have more environmentally-friendly devices and accessories than any other carrier. We recently launched our fourth green device and first eco-friendly Android phone – the new Samsung Replenish. It’s made with 82 percent recyclable materials, and is the first phone in the U.S. with a solar battery cover.  And it’s the first mobile device to receive UL Environment’s Platinum certification.

At the other end of the lifecycle, Sprint’s industry-first Electronics Stewardship Policy gave us the opportunity to work with environmental organizations like BSR, Basel Action Network and ABI Research to develop goals. The new national e-waste policy will enhance progress in the area of sustainable electronics management. Sprint’s commitment to the new national strategy will boost our goals in several areas including greater transparency in our operations.

Sprint is honored to be among the first companies to sign the new sustainable electronics management policy and to make our commitment public.

The 258,000 square foot facility increases the company’s processing capacity by 52 percent and is expected to handle 4 million pounds monthly.

“Our strategic expansion into Atlanta creates green jobs and aligns with our commitment to support the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship developed by U.S. federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services Administration,” said Paul Adamson, ROUND2’s VP of Corporate Development.  “The Metro Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Department of Economic Development and QuickStart Technical College System of Georgia were all very helpful in the site selection process.  Over the next 12 months we plan to hire 200 employees for this electronics ReDistribution Center to divert electronics from landfills and support the U.S. based green economy.”

The new Georgia facility joins ROUND2 processing facilities in Austin and Coppell, Texas, and Grove City, Ohio.

“Georgia is a great consumer of technology, and green companies such as ROUND2 play an important part of the cycle,” said Gov. Nathan Deal. “Our top-notch Quick Start workforce development program will play an integral role, and our great Georgia workforce will enable the company to grow and thrive here.”

“Atlanta continues to grow as an advanced manufacturing and renewable energy hub,” said Hans Gant, senior vice president of economic development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “ROUND2’s selection of metro Atlanta reinforces our region’s position as a growing center for clean tech sustainable jobs.”

ROUND2 INC. offers a range of integrated asset disposition, technology recovery and recycling solutions.  The company is R2 Certified, ISO 9001: 2008, ISO 14001: 2004, and OHSAS 18001: 2007 registered.

The Sun Journal reported the expansion on its website.

EWaste Recycling Solutions recycles CRTS and electronics, and is one of the only state firms approved by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to process through the state-run system.

“We are going to do a little ramp-up here, hiring a couple of people right off, quick,” CEO Rick Dumas told the newspaper. “Then we plan to do a couple of tests just to make sure that the process we have in place is working. As soon as we verify our process and procedures, we should be able to add 18 people.”

The company currently has 29 employees.

While the company has its own shredding technology, the company is adding technology to separate leaded from unleaded glass. Unleaded glass will be recycled, and  leaded glass is sent to a smelter in New Brunswick, Canada, the company said.

Maine’s new takeback law allows homeowners to recycle covered electronics, including CRT monitors and TVs free of charge.

Halfway through 2011, totals from collection sites and events amounted to 12.2 million pounds of e-waste collected for recycling, up from last year’s mid-year collection total of 11.9 million pounds for recycling, reports OregonLive.com.

Reuse is also growing, the program reported – nearly 18,000 TV, computer and monitor units have been diverted for reuse so far this year.

E-waste recycling in Oregon became obligatory in 2009 after the passage of producer responsibility laws in the state.

Each year, collection goals of 19 million pounds and 21.5 million pounds have been surpassed, the website reported. The program is on track to meet its 2011 collection goal of 22.95 million pounds.

For more information on electronic recycling in Oregon,  Oregon E-Cycles, visit www.oregonecycles.org or call 1-888-532-9253.

In a study released last week, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries reports the total scrap recycling industry – including metals, glass, fibers, plastics, and paper, amongst other materials – contributes $90.6 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

Electronics recycling is a small, but growing, part of this impact. The same trade organization, earlier this year, released the initial results of a study on U.S. e-waste recycling and found the industry has already grown from less than $1 billion in 2002 to $5 billion in 2010 in the country. At its conference in May, ISRI said the industry could grow to $8 or $10 billion in the coming years.

What is needed to make sure the electronics recycling industry continues on this path of growth? A positive legislative environment is one step in that direction. Since 2002, 25 states have passed some form of electronics recycling mandate, banning electronics from landfills and usually holding manufacturers responsible for funding their recycling.

A recently announced federal initiative hopes to voluntarily increase electronics recycling. But such voluntary efforts don’t often have the same impact as jurisdictions where the force of law dictates electronics’ end-of-life management. The increasing number of states with electronics recycling mandates is likely one of the driving forces behind this growth, along with public interest and voluntary manufacturer environmental responsibilities.

The U.S. EPA estimates that in 2009, of the 2.5 million short tons of e-waste generated in the country, about 25 percent was recycled.

That’s criminal.

That means that in 2009, the U.S. electronics recycling industry didn’t have access to 1,875,000 short tons of electronics, which instead now sit languishing in landfills, where the valuable commodities of aluminum, copper, plastics, and precious metals are lost forever.

In 8 years, the electronics recycling industry has grown from providing 6,000 full time jobs in the U.S. to 30,000. Imagine the economic impact if e-waste recycling was incentivized throughout the entire U.S., and not just half of it.

Official government photos of e-waste announcement at Round2 in Austin.

The Intercon scandal, which now is being litigated in court, presented a unique challenge for R2 Solutions and the Responsible Recycling standard – what to do when a certified recycler is accused of massive wrongdoing. The challenge – and the response so far – could lead to significant changes in how the certification is administered, R2 Solutions’ board of directors said.

At the time, R2 Solutions, which administers the R2 standard, removed, or in their words “delisted” the company from the directory of R2-certified recyclers.

Now, the R2 board of directors has sent a letter to the Technical Advisory Committee, requesting help in developing policies and procedures in dealing with similar crises if and when they arise in the future.

“We, the R2 Solutions Board of Directors, believe it is essential that both the Board and the TAC do everything in our collective means to maintain and strengthen the integrity of the R2 Standard. R2 is a new brand and industry opinion is still unsettled about whether it firmly demands and demonstrates responsible recycling. We must do everything we can to ensure that it does.”

The board said it would explore, and maybe implement, changes to R2 and how it is administered.

This includes strong language laying out precisely what is required of certified recyclers an certifying bodies auditing the recyclers.

“Certifying bodies should be able to act decisively if it appears that a requirement is not being met—at any point during the three-year certification cycle. And R2 Solutions needs to be able to work collaboratively with the CBs in these instances,” the board of directors write in their letter.

A policy for dealing with non-conformances must be put in place, the board wrote, that will:

• Fully protect the integrity of the R2 standard while providing due process to the facility,
• Articulates the role and responsibilities of the certifying bodies, and
• Describes the actions R2 Solutions will take in such situations.

In the letter, the R2 Solutions board of directors seeks guidance and input from R2 stakeholders.

Current members of the R2 Solutions board are:

John DeVillars, who works in the area of renewable energy as Managing Partner of BlueWave Capital.  The Regional Administrator for New England during President Clinton’s EPA, he served as co-Chair of EPA’s national Common Sense Initiative Advisory Group for the electronics industry.

John Howard is currently working as an independent public policy consultant after a distinguished career in the field of law.  During the Bush Administration, he served as the Federal Environmental Executive and went on to chair EPA’s National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology.

John Lingelbach is a nationally-recognized environmental mediator who is currently serving as Acting Executive Director of R2 Solutions. From 2006 through 2008, he facilitated the multi-stakeholder development of the R2 Practices.

Pete Regan is currently working with private-equity backed companies and with several non-profits. Previously, he served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of ERM, Inc., the world’s leading global provider of EHS, risk and social consulting services.

Lynn Rubinstein is the Executive Director of the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) for the past 11 years. NERC’s mission is to advance an environmentally sustainable economy by promoting source and toxicity reduction, recycling, and the purchasing of environmentally preferable products and services.

Manufacturers participating in E-World Online’s Manufacturer Interstate Takeback System (MITS) will be able to label their packages and products for e-waste recycling, guiding more consumers to local options via the Earth911 Recycling Directory.

“By placing Earth911 messaging directly on their product, a manufacturer provides a branded call to action that their consumers can use right away to find recycling locations in their own community,” said Earth911 President, Corey Lambrecht. “The continuity of this new partnership takes a major burden off manufacturers and allows them to keep focus on their core businesses.”

“When it comes to protecting our environment one of the most important things we can do is empower consumers to maximize their own recycling efforts,” said E-World Online president, Cindy Erie. “Partnering with Earth911 will allow us to continue providing our manufacturer clients the comprehensive services necessary to ensure their compliance with state recycling regulations, while helping them to seamlessly integrate consumer education.”

For more on E-World Online, visit www.e-worldonline.com. For more on Earth911, visit www.earth911.com.

The fact sheets are downloadable and printable PDF files, located at www.isri.org/factsheets.

“The scrap recycling industry is not only growing in size, but is continuing to play a more and more important role in job creation, helping level the U.S. trade balance, and strengthening the economy as a whole,” said ISRI President Robin Wiener.  “Despite this, many misconceptions about the industry continue to linger. ISRI is a clearinghouse of information about our industry, our members and how what they do is having a positive impact in local communities and around the world.”

In the U.S., the trade industry reported, the electronics recycling industry has grown from less than $1 billion in 2002 to more than $5 billion annually. The industry now employs more than 30,000 full time employees, up from 6,000 in 2002.

Last year, the U.S. electronics recycling industry processed 3 million to 4 million tons of used and end-of-life electronics equipment. More than 70 percent of the collected equipment is manufactured into specification grade commodities — including steel, aluminum, copper, lead, circuit boards, plastics and glass. Commodities are then sold around the U.S. and the world.

Equipment collected from businesses and commercial interested comprises up to 75% of the market, ISRI said, and the U.S. industry has plenty of room to grow – the trade organization estimates U.S. recyclers are currently operating at about 50% of their operational capabilities.

For more on the fact sheets, visit www.isri.org/factsheet

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E-waste burst onto the national stage yesterday as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, General Services Administrator Martha N. Johnson, and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley were joined by the CEOs of Dell Inc. and Sprint, and senior executives from Sony Electronics to discuss the new federal initiative to promote the U.S. electronics recycling industry. The government also released a 35-page report prepared by the Obama Administration’s e-waste task force, formed last year.

The government initiative will ban all federal electronics from landfill, will place greater emphasis on Design for Recycling, support recycling options and systems for American consumers; and strengthen America’s role as a global steward of electronics at their end of life. Under today’s strategy, the federal General Services Administration will remove products that do not comply with energy efficiency or environmental performance standards from its information technology purchase contracts used by federal agencies, and will ensure that all electronics used by the Federal government are reused or recycled properly.

Such a policy will have far-reaching effects. Jackson noted the federal government is the largest purchaser of IT equipment in the nation, and as it agitates for change as it buys new products and recycles the old, the impacts are sure to be felt industry-wide.

Also discussed yesterday was the importance of industry self-policing through certification standards. That such a discussion was held on a national stage is only beneficial to the electronics recycling industry as legitimate recyclers seek to dispel perceptions of toxic e-waste dumping overseas.

While much of the country already benefits from mandatory electronics recycling, it’s important that the federal government take the lead in advancing awareness for the rest of the nation. That the government is supported in the initiative by some of the largest electronics manufacturers in the nation doesn’t hurt the new policy’s chances of success, either.

The announcement included voluntary commitments from Dell, Sprint and Sony – presumably in addition to environmental commitments the companies have already made – to EPA’s industry partnership aimed at promoting environmentally sound management of used electronics.

“Our goal at Dell is to deliver the highest quality and most efficient products to our customers with the least environmental impact,” said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, Dell Inc. “Last fiscal year, we diverted more than 150 million pounds of end-of-life electronics globally from landfills, and we are well on our way to meeting our goal of recycling 1 billion pounds by 2014. We encourage everyone in our industry to commit to easier, more responsible recycling as we all work to protect our planet.”

“To be recognized by the EPA for responsible e-waste recycling is an honor for Sprint and a chance to build on our industry-first Electronics Stewardship Policy,” said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. “Our current policy and today’s commitment with the EPA highlights our goal to handle electronic waste holistically – from product design to disposal – and is another proof point to our broader commitment to sustainability innovation.”

“At Sony, any product we make and put our name on, we will take back and recycle in the most responsible manner,” said Mark Small, Vice President for Corporate Environment, Safety and Health. “‘We Make It, We Take It Back’ has been Sony’s policy since 1995.  This partnership – in coordination with the EPA and other stakeholders – will help us reach our “Road to Zero” goal, Sony’s vision of zero waste and zero environmental impact throughout the complete life cycle of all our products and related activities.”

News of the announcement was carried not only in the environmental press, but in local newspapers and on major blog sites and news portals. Regardless of the impact the new policy will ultimately have, for one day at least the American public took a moment, glanced at their computers or mobile phones and realized that some day, these devices will have to be handled responsibly.

The rare earth elements have exotic names: cerium, bastnasite, lanthanum, yttrium, neodymium. But these hard-to-extract elements are vital raw materials for our electronics, renewable energy and national defense. They supply magnetism, luminescence, and strength to our video screens, cell phones and satellites.

Nearly all of the world’s supply – 95% – is sourced from China.  In 2009, reports the U.S. government, global production was 132,000 metric tons. All but 3,000 of those tons came from China. New facilities are planned – Molycorp, of Denver, hopes to produce 19,000 tons per year from its Mountain Pass mine in California sometime next year, and Lynas of Austrialia is hoping to open its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Malaysia to process deposits from Mount Weld in Western Australia sometime after government regulations are satisfied.

Still, extracting and processing the elements is expensive and prices are skyrocketing. Neodymium, used in everything from personal electronics to anti-lock brakes and airbags, as increased in price 130 percent, from $130/kg to $300/kg since December. Dysprosium, used to make electronic components smaller and faster, has increased 50 percent over that time period, from $700 to $1050/kg.

U.S. Congress is getting into the act – three pieces of legislation have been introduced this session with the aim of filling the supply shortage of the elements crucial to economic and national security, with one goal of shifting some of the production to the U.S. The bills are:  H.R. 2011, sponsored by Doug Lamborn (R-CO), S.1113 sponsored by Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and S.383 sponsored by Mark Udall (D-CO),

With this emphasis on domestic production, it’s important recycling comes into discussion. While costs associated with recycling rare earth elements have been prohibitive, with escalating costs for the material it is time for another look.

Umicore and Rhodia, two European companies have announced a new recycling process to recover rare earth metals from nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries.

The companies jointly developed the new process, which combines Umicore’s proprietary battery recycling process and Rhodia’s rare earth refining expertise. The companies say the process is applicable to the entire range of rechargeable NiMH batteries, from those used in consumer electronics to those in hybrid vehicles.

Hopefully the European announcement is just the first of many such developments in rare-earth recycling innovations.

Global rare earth element production (1 kt=10^6 kg) from 1950 through 2000 20 November 2002 Source http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2002/fs087-02/