Tag Archives: electronics

E-World Online, Earth911 announce new e-waste awareness program

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E-World Online and Earth911 have created a new partnership to drive consumers to Earth911’s recycling database when they purchase new electronics.

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.

New electronics recycling industry fact sheets released

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The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries has released its latest set of fact sheets summarizing the state of the scrap recycling industry, and electronics recycling is included in its data.

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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New federal policy good news for electronics recycling

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Commentary by Amanda Smith-Teutsch | Electronic Waste Journal

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.

Commentary – Recycling a key part of mineral policy

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Commentary by  Electronic Waste Journal

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/

Tablets’ impact on the e-waste recycling stream

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Commentary by Amanda Smith-Teutsch | Electronic Waste Journal

8.5 million.

That’s the number of iPad sales some analysts expect Apple to report selling during the third quarter 2011 next week during conference calls reporting quarterly financial results.  That’s not results for the entire year – that’s just the third quarter. While Apple is one of the larger players in the newly developing tablet market, they are by no means the only brand out there.

Take into consideration all of the other products on the market  - HP’s new TouchPad, Toshiba’s Thrive, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, high-end and entry-level products from Asus, products from Research in Motion, HTC, Dell, ACER and other manufacturers. All of these tablets – and the world’s insatiable appetite for the gadgets –  are creating an ever-growing addition to the e-waste stream, already the fastest growing segment of the world’s waste.

Already the tablets have been appearing in the recycling stream – Sims Recycling Solutions reported its first unit in its recycling stream appeared in October 2010, five months after the device was introduced . As these devices age and are replaced, more will work their way through to the recycling infrastructure.

It’s a device that seemingly arose out of nowhere and burst onto the consumer stage as the must-have gadget overnight. With such a meteoric rise, it’s important to make sure tablets are included into recycling programs at the end of life.

In many jurisdictions with e-recycling laws, tablet computers were added into the same category as laptops or with other video display devices. Other areas, including more than two dozen U.S. states, don’t have laws governing the disposal of the televisions, computers, monitors, laptops or tablets – into the landfill with all of it.

Even at the end of life, these tablets and devices are too valuable from recycling standpoint to landfill and lose forever. Hopefully policy comes into place to capture these valuable devices before they’re thrown into the trash.

A shredder at e-Scrap Destruction in Islandia, N.Y.; photo from Greenlanches.com http://www.greenlaunches.com/other-stuff/escrap-recycles-ewaste-to-reduce-the-burden-on-landfills.php

photo credit : from Greenlanches.com and Sims Recycling Solutions

First Mexico-based company certified to e-Stewards

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Glezco, in Neuvo Leon, outside Monterrey, Mexico, has achieved e-Stewards certification.

In addition to the Neuvo Leon facility, Glezco operates additional e-recycling plants in Guadalajara, Jalisco and Tijuana, Baja California in Mexico. These operations are also undergoing certification, as required under the e-Stewards program.

“We are thrilled to welcome the first Mexican e-Stewards recycler.  The global expansion of the e-Stewards program is essential for servicing the needs of the world’s most responsible multi-national corporations,” said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of BAN.

e-Stewards Certification ensures compliance with the international Basel Convention and its decisions as it prohibits toxic components contained in corporate electronic assets from finding their way to developing countries.  Mexico is a Party to the Basel Convention.

Glezco also holds ISO 9001, 14001 and 18001 certificates and has achieved the Clean Industry Certification by SEMARNAT, a voluntary program ensuring compliance with Mexico’s federal environmental laws.

Established in 1992, Glezco serves large enterprises in a wide range of industries in Mexico recycling a large amount of consumer and corporate electronic scrap and equipment.

“Glezco has a long-standing commitment to best practices but we felt that the e-Stewards Certification was essential for ensuring our customers that their hazardous e-waste and sensitive data will be properly managed,” said Horacio Gonzalez, CEO of Glezco.  “It was hard work but we are very proud of holding the distinction of having passed the test of the industry’s gold standard.”

For more information on the company visit: http://glezcocorp.com.mx