LittleFootprint Lighting, of California, has introduced the HeronLED desk lamp, a highly efficient light fixture made from ABS plastic reclaimed from recycled e-waste.

This new lamp features an adjustable, ergonomic design, “warm white” light, and a replaceable LED bulb.  According to its manufacturer, the HeronLED uses 7-10 times less energy than your conventional desktop lamp

LittleFootprint Lighting, a pioneer of sustainably designed LED task lighting products made in the USA from recycled materials, introduced the high performance HeronLED Personal Task Light for corporate and home office environments earlier this year.

“The HeronLED gives buyers the first-ever opportunity to select truly sustainable, quality task lighting for the office environment,” said Nancy Wahl-Scheurich, CEO of LittleFootprint Lighting. “The HeronLED lamp is highly-efficient, made from recycled materials, is itself easily recyclable, and is designed and manufactured in the USA. We’re excited to bring to market a high quality office product that supports a greener planet and the creation of green jobs.”

Designed and manufactured in the USA, the HeronLED’s adjustable and ergonomic design features a replaceable LED bulb that provides “warm white” light, and uses 7 to 10 times less energy than comparable conventional desk lamps. LittleFootprint’s HeronLED is the first LED desk lamp made of recycled plastic from e-waste.

For more infomaiton, visit http://www.lfplighting.com/

According to a consent order filed by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, e-Recycling of California was assessed the fine after improperly storing CRT glass in containers deemed not appropriate  to contain the material. Crushed CRT glass was found leaking out of the containers during inspections, DTSC officials said.

“Respondent failed to manage all residuals produced from treating electronic devices, residual printed circuit boards, and/or CRTs, in a manner that prevents a release to the environment of any universal waste or any component thereof, “ according to the document.

Specifically, the company didn’t tie the openings of CRT glass treatment dust bags, set up an  appropriate container system to capture the CRT/CRT glass treatment dust under the Pulse-Jet Filter Cleaning Vacuums and did not separate floor sweepings containing CRT glass from regular solid waste.

To see the consent order, click here: http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/HazardousWaste/Projects/upload/eRecycling_Irvine_CO_081911.pdf

“The evolution and adoption of responsible electronics recycling practices made an important transition today as the Basel Action Network formally sunsetted the Pledged e-Stewards Recyclers program on September 1, 2011.  Established in 2003, the Pledge program was the first widely recognized initiative designed to identify electronics recyclers committed to globally responsible e-waste management practices.  Toay marks its official and full replacement by the Certified e-Stewards® Recyclers program,” according to the Basel Action Network.

“In 2003, the world was just waking up to the horrors of e-waste export and the dire need for a means of separating good recyclers from bad recyclers,” said Roman. “I’m amazed the basic tenets of the Pledge program, identified by BAN eight years ago, provided the foundation for what are now globally accepted principles of responsible e-recycling.  The new e-Stewards Recycler Certification is even more comprehensive and accountable – really the gold standard,” said Lauren Roman, BAN’s e-Stewards Business Director.

For more information, visit www.e-Stewards.org.
 

“This is a significant milestone for our company. Many of our customers and partners have been looking for assurance from e-recyclers such as ECS that we have the highest standards and processes available in the world,” said Jim Taggart, Chief Executive Officer, ECS Refining. “We had been an e-Stewards Founder since the program’s inception, but we weren’t going to be satisfied until we secured the most relevant industry standard by becoming ‘e-Stewards Certified.’ In addition, we are continuing audits with our other regional processing facilities to provide a fully certified, national solution for our clients.”

The e-Stewards Certification was developed by a group of electronics recyclers, environmentalists, industry leaders and health and safety and technical experts working with the Basel Action Network (BAN), a non-governmental organization focused on stopping  e-waste exports. The e-Stewards Certification program, created by BAN, formally recognizes electronics recyclers that adhere to environmentally and socially responsible practices when recovering hazardous electronic materials.

“This designation is extremely meaningful to our customers and prospects. They can be assured that our recycled materials are processed correctly, safely and not sent overseas. Some of our competitors can’t make that claim,” said Mark Robards, Vice President of Sales, ECS Refining. “This certification publicly va lidates and extends our 30 year policy of being a conscientious e-recycling company which our partners, customers and consumers can trust.”

Companies pursuing e-Stewards Certification undergo audits to ensure they comply with the e-Stewards Standard and have a registered ISO 14001:2004 environmental management system in place.

“We’re proud to announce that ECS Refining Texas has received e-Stewards Certification. This is no small feat,” said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of BAN. “ECS’s addition to our network of responsible recyclers is particularly important since they have processes that not only serve generators of e-waste but also the electronics recycling industry. Having them as a qualified processor for other recyclers seeking responsible domestic recycling moves our mission of accountable recycling forward.”

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.

Photo by EMPA. Supplied by UNU

SGS, a global inspection, verification, testing and certification company, is promoting its services to help ensure compliance with India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests new “E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011.”

The new rules go into effect May 2012. The company said the new Indian regulations bear a “considerable similarity” with the EU’s WEEE and RoHS legislation for producers and dismantlers of electrical and electronic equipment.

The new law will apply to all those in the supply and usage chains, from producers to dismantlers of electrical and electronic equipment, the company said, and includes an Extended Producers’ Responsibility mandate for recycling, for reducing levels of hazardous substances in electronics and setting up collection centers. It is understood that this legislation is being promoted by Non Governmental Organizations and a few manufacturers who already have “green policies” that restrict most of the substances mentioned.

“As the law takes effect, the e-waste rules will require manufacturers and importers to supply only “RoHS compliant” products provide written evidence of compliance, and include details about the restricted substances in the product information booklet. Such reduction in use of hazardous substances in manufactured or imported electrical and electronic equipment shall be achieved within two years from the date of the act’s commencement. SGS is the market leader in RoHS testing and can provide a global compliance program covering the whole supply chain,” the company said.

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://www.ee.sgs.com/global-rohs-services.htm or contact:

SGS Consumer Testing Services
Asish Chakraborty
Manager-Technical (Multilabs)

SGS India Private Limited
15 C Hemanta Basu Sarani, 3rd & 4th Floors,
LMJ Chambers, Kolkata, 700 001, India

t: +91 33 662 66 100 -104 (B)
f: +91 33 224 20 745, 224 81 745
Email: cts.media@sgs.com

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.

Once operational the plant is hoped to provide revenues in excess of euro 6,000,000 ($8,400,000 U.S.) per year of operation. All raw materials will be sold to local entities for further processing. The plant will be locally funded and initial funds are available to start the project, the company said.

The JV will be 51% owned by Garb and 49% by a group already present in the provincial waste recycling business. The company will then build, own and operate a 25,000 metric ton E-Waste plant. The estimated cost of the project including land, building and plant is expected to be approx. $25 million USD and is scheduled to be completed by September 2012. Funding for the E-Waste Plant will come through the engagement of a local bank and will be guaranteed by an insurance bond.

Garb Oil & Power Corporation supplies plants for Rubber Recycling, E-Waste and E-Scrap Recycling, Waste to Energy and OTR processing plants. For more information visit http://www.garbop.com/

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.