Tag Archives: ewaste

ROUND2′s new Atlanta facility expands company capacity 52%

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ROUND2 INC has opened a new e-waste processing facility in Atlanta, Ga.

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.

Maine e-waste firm adds CRT processing capabilities

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EWaste Recycling Solutions, of Auburn, Maine, is expanding its CRT recycling business thanks to new electronic takeback laws in that state.

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.

Garb announces new Italian joint venture

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Garb Oil & Power Corporation, of Salt Lake City, Utah, has announced a JV partnership in Rome, Italy to build and operate an E-Waste plant in the Viterbo province. The plant will have 25,000 metric tons input and produce output in copper, aluminum,  alloys and plastic.

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/

E-waste should not be wasted

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Commentary by Amanda Smith-Teutsch | Electronic Waste Journal

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.

 

R2 may change in face of Intercon situation

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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.

 

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