Mobile, Alabama: Electronic Equipment Collection Workshop and Hands-On Training Event November 14, 2002 Proceedings. Summary

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1 Mobile, Alabama: Electronic Equipment Collection Workshop and Hands-On Training Event November 14, 2002 Proceedings Summary EPA Region IV, in association with SWIX, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), and the City of Mobile s Keep Mobile Beautiful office, provided the subject workshop and two day collection event on November 14, 15, and 16 in the City of Mobile, Alabama. The following summarizes materials presented at the workshop and the results of the electronics collection event. Electronic Equipment Management and Recycling Workshop This workshop was held November 14 th between 1 and 5:15pm at the City of Mobile s Chamber of Commerce building in downtown, Mobile. A copy of the workshop agenda is provided in PDF file format as part of these workshop Proceedings. In addition, presentations delivered at this workshop (if provided to SWIX) are included in these proceedings. Twenty-six (26) participants attended the workshop. Workshop Summary BACKGROUND Ray Moreau, Associate Director of SWIX, opened the workshop by discussing background issues related to electronics equipment management and recycling, including information on: The large amounts of this type of equipment that is now in storage and/or being generated and which will have to be managed in the near future. The fact that some component parts and constituents of electronic equipment (e.g., lead from Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs) are hazardous in nature and could cause environmental problems if buried in landfills, burned in energy recovery facilities, or improperly handled.

2 2 That a relatively young and immature industry is still emerging to handle/manage this growing waste stream, keeping recycling costs high. That technological obsolesce and the lack of product stewardship on part of manufacturers and users of electronics is contributing to a continuing problem. The costs of collecting, handling, and processing electronic equipment across the country range from $300 / ton to over $900 / ton. NATIONAL POLICIES & REGULATIONS Pam Swingle, with EPA Region IV in Atlanta, summarized the current regulatory framework at the national level related to electronics. A summary of Ms. Swingle s presentation follows: EPA s overall approach for the management of electronics includes regulatory streamlining, research, education, and product stewardship. EPA s proposed Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Universal Waste rule is designed to encourage more reuse, recycling and better management of CRTs. EPA has hosted several national and regional workshops on subject of electronics management and recycling in order to educate residents and businesses about the issue. The proposed rule continues to exempt households, CESQGs(conditionally exempt small quantity generators)) and users who send their equipment for reuse/recycling purposes, from any regulations. The proposed rule specifies streamlined requirements for used CRTs under new Universal Waste rule, including labeling for shipment and storage. No speculative accumulation would be allowed under the proposed rule. Comments on proposed rule to EPA have generally been positive. Some of the issues brought up about the rule by commenter include: 1. Speculative accumulation. 2. Some States have already included CRTs under their own Universal Waste Rule. 3. Lack of standards and monitoring under the proposed rule. 4. Concern that rule would reduce incentives for green design of products. STATE PROGRAMS

3 3 Mr. Raoul Clarke of Florida s Department of Environmental Protection, Hazardous Waste Program, summarized policies and programs related to electronic equipment recycling and management in Florida. Florida s electronics management program consists of the following: Streamlining regulations to encourage more recycling of electronics Promoting the recycling infrastructure for electronics Limited funding for local government to build infrastructure Build partnerships with retailers, manufacturers, non-profits Florida does NOT consider electronic equipment to be a waste material until an electronic equipment specialist or recycler makes decision that it, or certain parts of the equipment, are a waste that must be disposed of. Therefore, in Florida, the electronic equipment is NOT a hazardous waste until such a decision is made by recycling specialist, making electronic equipment a commodity until it reaches the specialist. The equipment is, however, a hazardous waste if generated commercially and sent for disposal. In order to promote the recycling infrastructure for used electronics in Florida, the state has arranged for a statewide contract for collection/recycling services at a set rate that all local governments and agencies of state can use to develop their programs without having to go through locally required bidding requirements. In addition, 24 counties/cities in Florida have been given financial assistance through State program funding to help build recycling and collection infrastructure and programs for electronic equipment. Florida generally concurs with EPA s proposed Universal Waste Rule for electronics. DONATIONS/REUSE Ms. Athena Bradley with Goodwill Industries, Inc., informed participants that: Goodwill has over1800 stores in North America and hundreds of rehabilitation programs on-going Few still do repairs of anything, including computers/electronics Goodwill operations lengthen the life of various products, including electronic Donations of materials/products like electronics provide a tax benefit to the donor Only about 15% of all electronics donated to Goodwill is repairable

4 4 Goodwill, as well as other reuse organizations, have become a dumping ground for worthless and/or non-working electronics and this has become a problem for Goodwill Most Goodwills operate independently and there is no standard donation policy Out of 1800 stores, 38 currently participate in refurbishing computers, over 100 sell computers in store, Goodwill has 13 computer training programs and 17 other training programs are planned Goodwill feels that the following must happen to ensure the success of electronic equipment reuse through donations to organizations like Goodwill: 1. local government enforcement of illegal dumping ordinances 2. grant funding for programs (like CA, MA, MN, and FL have) 3. the provision of alternatives to dumping/disposal (e.g., drop off events/centers for electronics) 4. product shared responsibility from cradle to grave COLLECTION PROGRAMS Ms. Kim Smith with the City of Fairhope, Alabama, presented the following summary of her city s collection program for electronics: traditionally, T.V s /computers picked up with bulk item collections and place in City s Construction and Demolition Debris landfill as of Spring of 2001, City instituted program that no longer provides pickup of TV s and monitors at the curb but mandates that these materials be brought in to designated City facility for recycling. Special arrangements made for handicapped and elderly City has begun collecting electronics (at no cost) at EarthDay events every April City is not currently recycling electronic items other than T.V. s and computers, along with other household hazardous waste Alachua County, Florida s electronic collection program was represented by Mr. Raoul Clarke of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Alachua County was recipient of Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) innovative recycling grant in 1999 which allowed County to begin

5 5 collecting electronics at its existing household hazardous waste collection center during the last quarter of 1999 (primarily CRTs). A two day pilot collection event for electronics was conducted by Alachua County after receipt of State funding. 24,000 pounds of electronics were collected during this event. Alachua County s Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) program is funded through Solid Waste Assessment Fees and fee schedules for commercial business generators of electronic waste have been established. County s HHW facility is open 5 days a week and small business waste is accepted on a fee basis. In addition, 5 Regional Collection Centers located within the county accept/collect electronics and other HHW from residential customers only. County s main HHW center processes, palletizes/shrink wraps electronic equipment received, loads onto trailers, and ships to a Florida based electronics recycler. 60% of all electronic equipment collected (on a weight basis) are T.V s and 25% of all e-scrap collected on an item basis are monitors. At this time, the County has a purchase agreement with recycler, not a contract for the e-scrap collected. Therefore, prices paid the county for electronics or paid by the county to the recycler for recycling the equipment collected vary. Alachua County suggests, based on its program experience with e-waste, the following: A shared responsibility model/structure between manufacturers, governments, retailers, and consumers for the management of electronics should be adopted. There should be continued discussion and progress toward product stewardship on part of manufacturers and the adoption of take back programs. Lower their disposal costs for e-scrap through Statewide Contract pricing. Possible fee structure for residential customers in the future E-WASTE RECYCLING Ms. Cathy Smith with Waste Management (WM), Inc. s Recycle America ecycling Services made presentation on behalf of WM, a national firm providing electronic equipment recycling and demanufacturing services to both private and public sector clients. Ms. Smith s presentation is summarized below:

6 6 WM leverages the use of all of its facilities on a national basis in order to provide e-waste services to customers (including landfills, transfer stations, and materials recycling facilities (MRFs). Electronics collected by WM are shipped to Recycle America facilities and then to certified (by WM) vendors. WM has residential curbside recycling programs underway in California, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. WM collects Commercial Electronic Streams, including: computer equipment, circuit boards, consumer electronics, cables, wires, controls, switches, connectors, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and specialty products. WM/Recycle America has voluntarily adopted an Environmental Stewardship Pledge (first U.S. electronics recycler to do so) which states: All electronics from residential and municipally sponsored sources are processed domestically Recycle America will promote reuse and refurbishment options for products and materials, including local reuse opportunities Use of export markets will be limited to select materials streams from commercial sources and processed materials (metals and plastics). All export markets to be subject to Environmental Health and Safety audit. All CRTs will go to domestic end markets (i.e., glass to glass and glass to lead). Recycle America will use Environmental Management Systems (EMS) in all of its electronics processing centers. Recycle America commits to product stewardship efforts. Ms. Smith ended her presentation with slides of WM s/recycle America s electronics processing/recycling facilities. COLLECTION EVENT TRAINING Mr. Bob Haskins, Coordinator of the City of Mobile s Keep Mobile Beautiful, ended the workshop with a brief review of the logistics surrounding the November 15, and 16 th electronics collection event, being held at City of Mobile s fairgrounds facility. Waste Management s Recycle America eservices division was announced as the subcontractor to SWIX for the event, providing collection /storage/ recycling services for equipment to be collected at the event. COLLECTION EVENT SUMMARY

7 Table I below summaries data collected during the collection event related to type of electronic equipment collected and number of units collected. As can be seen from this table, the total number of electronic equipment units of all types collected was 2,264 and the total number of vehicles that were unloaded during the event was 420. Twenty one percent (21%) of all electronic units collected were TV s, monitors or terminals (all of which contain CRTs or Cathode Ray Tubes). 7

8 8 Table I Friday Nov 15 CPUs Monitors/Terminals TV> 19 TV < 19 Video/Audio Small Appliance Telephones Large Peripherals Small Peripherals VCRs Microwaves Totals Saturday Nov Grand Totals