BEYOND EPEAT AND RESPONSIBLE END OF LIFE MANAGEMENT

Transcription

1 BEYOND EPEAT AND RESPONSIBLE END OF LIFE MANAGEMENT Judy Levin, MSW Pollution Prevention Coordinator Basel Action Network

2 Center for Environmental Health 2 Center for Environmental Health (CEH) is a non-profit organization, based in Oakland, CA, dedicated to protecting public health from exposures to toxic chemicals. The Center for Environmental Health s Pollution Prevention (P2) program works with large institutional purchasers, particularly in the healthcare sector, to promote the sustainable purchase, management and disposal of electronic products.

3 Coalition Partner 3 The goal of ETBC is to protect the health and well being of electronics users, workers, and the communities where electronics are produced and discarded by requiring consumer electronics manufacturers and brand owners to take full responsibility for the life cycle of their products, through effective public policy requirements or enforceable agreements.

4 4 EPEAT is a Good Start But has Critical Flaws EPEAT is a multi-stakeholder process and business considerations and vested financial interests may compete with environmental priorities. Manufacturers incentivized to make the standards easily attainable so that the majority of their products can meet the standard. Weak requirements for manufacturing process What is a truly green product?

5 Key Limitations of EPEAT 5 Limited requirements to eliminate certain hazardous materials (PVC, HFRs, Phthalates, etc) No requirement for safer alternatives testing No requirement to enact takeback policies to safely deal with e-waste No requirement to enact occupational health and safety to protect workers Weak requirements for responsible recycling Weak packaging requirements (no requirement packaging takeback, reusable/recyclable, polystyrene ok)

6 6 Other Purchasing Tools

7 7 CEH s Electronics Sustainability Questionnaire- Signaling and Moving the Market Can be used during RFP/RFQ process for Non-EPEAT Product Categories and for Beyond EPEAT Criteria Corporate Governance Chemicals Use of Recycled Content Packaging End of Life Management Energy

8 CEH s Electronics Supplier 8 Questionnaire-Sample Questions Do you know 90% or more of the chemical and material ingredients in this product by weight? - Do all the homogeneous parts in your product fall below the 1000 parts per million (ppm) threshold for bromine? If Energy Star specification exists for this product, and includes a Typical Energy Consumption (TEC) limits, what percentage of Energy Star TEC limit does this product use? Yes=2 pts No=0 pts. Yes=3 pts No=0 pts. Use for disclosure purposes or award 1pt. to product with lowest energy use. Some leading companies are developing full materials declaration systems to better understand the chemicals being used in their products. Leading manufacturers have restricted use of all bromine containing substances as a way to more easily implement and validate these restrictions. Some products use virtually the maximum allowed power while others use substantially less.

9 Other CEH Tools and Resources 9 Equipment End-of-Life Management Program Summary Form Tool to collect information about your vendors' equipment end-of-life management programs. Compare and determine whether to include these services in your contract. Packaging Take Back Program Summary Form Tool to collect important information about your vendors' packaging takeback programs. Compare services and determine whether to include them in your contract. Available at:

10 Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics 10. Quarterly Report Card xics/electronics/how-the-companies-line-up/

11 11 Electronics Without Brominated Flame Retardants and PVC- a Market Overview - By ChemSec -overview Registry of over 500 products free from BFRs and/or PVC including: Small and large household appliances IT and telecommunication equipment Consumer electronics (TVs, cameras, video cameras, etc) Lighting Gaming devices

12 ETBC REPORT CARD 12 Scope of US take Back Recycling Program Provides Responsible Recycling Volumes and Visibility Public Policy ortcard.htm

13 13 NOT ALL RECYCLERS ARE CREATED EQUAL!

14 14 What happens to that 18% that is recycled? 50% 80% of e-waste collected for recycling is exported for processing abroad.

15 Whose E-Waste Is Exported? 15 A few examples of the many labels from computers and monitors that were exported from the US to Guiyu, China. December BAN observed about 60% of the material coming from Canada and the USA; 30% from Japan and Korea; 10% from Europe Basel Action Network

16 TYPES OF RECYCLERS 16 Most of what we consider Recycling is done by companies other than the company we gave our e- Waste to: COLLECTORS/HAULERS BROKERS PROCESSORS IT ASSET MANAGEMENT AND RECOVERY

17 MISLEADING CLAIMS 17 We are EPA Permitted/EPA Certified We have a State Permit We provide a Certificate of Destruction/ Recycling We follow all applicable state and federal laws We don't export any e-waste We process everything in the U.S. and only export commodities for recycling

18 18 CHECK OUT YOUR RECYCLER S HISTORY (California) DTSC: Not a comprehensive list of DTSC's enforcement cases. Rather, it is a list of site or facility pages in which you will find enforcement documents, along with other information related to that particular facility or site CIWMB: List of solid waste facilities in the State of California which are violating the state minimum standards for solid waste handling and disposal.

19 General Tips 19 Use companies with short chain between them and the final end processor for each of the hazardous materials. Prioritize companies who are doing some level of demanufacturing themselves. Know the downstream vendors of your recyclers

20 General Tips (cont d) 20 Ask first tier vendor to share paperwork from multiple shipments throughout the year of materials going out of their facility and compare to shipments being received by their downstream vendor. Confirm with downstream vendors that they are receiving ongoing shipments from the sending company. Is reuse/refurbishment a priority?

21 e-waste RECYCLING STANDARDS 21 E-Stewards R2 ( Responsible Recycling Practices )

22 e-stewards 22 Created by the Basel Action Network (BAN) in conjunction with leading recyclers and occupational health experts Certification bodies are accredited by ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board ISO EMS embedded in e-stewards standard High environmental and health standards

23 E-Stewards Enterprises 23 Santa Clara County became the first government entity to earn the e-stewards Enterprise designation (10/14/10)..

24 24 R2 Responsible Recycling Practices Certification bodies are accredited by ANSI- ASQ National Accreditation Board Written in a multi-stakeholder process facilitated by the EPA Finalized without support from the environmental groups due to weak export, environmental and human health protections Significant loopholes in criteria

25 Does the Program Allow for Export to Developing Countries? 25 R2 Yes- Allowed under a number of circumstances (partial list) R2 definition of hazardous (restricted materials) more limited than Basel Convention definition R2 vendors allowed to determine what is legal for another country to import. Does not require permission from importing countries Non-working untested equipment may be sent for refurbishment which almost always result in waste e-stewards No-Prohibited All exports of hazardous waste as defined by the Basel Convention are forbidden from going to developing countries for recycling or disposal throughout the entire recycling chain Non-working untested equipment may not be sent to developing countries.

26 Does Program Allow for Landfill or Incineration? 26 R2 Yes Discouraged but allowed Toxic e-waste allowed to be disposed of in solid waste landfills and incinerators, if undefined circumstances beyond the control of the R2 recycler disrupt its normal management of a toxic material. e-stewards No Hazardous waste may not be disposed of in solid waste landfills and may not be incinerated, including wasteto-energy incinerators.

27 Protect Worker Health 27 R2 No-Weak worker protection Left up to recyclers to identify the toxic chemicals or potential hazards Does not require any specific toxins be addressed No baseline requirements for what tests needed to monitor worker exposure or frequency e-stewards Yes-Stringent worker protection Specifies which hazards must be tested for if using specific processing technologies Requires specific air and work space testing and monitoring of specific toxins every 6 months if utilizing specific processes

28 Other Issues: Handling of Mercury 28 and Use of Prison Labor R2 e-stewards Mercury: Allows mercury devices to go into shredders if they are too small to remove safely at reasonable cost and if workers are protected. Prison Labor: Allowed despite objections of US recyclers. Prisons may be certified to R2 standards. Mercury: e-stewards may not shred mercury containing devices. Prison Labor: Prohibited for all processing of hazardous e-waste.

29 Prison Labor: Unsafe Practices 29 E-waste Disassembly is dangerous to the health of prisoners & prison guards Racial minorities and low-income individuals comprise 70% of federal prisoners (African Americans, Latino) Workers do not receive full protections, rights and remedies Undercuts commercial high-end recycling Report: Toxic Sweatshops: How UNICOR Prison Recycling Harms Workers, Communities, the Environment, & the Recycling Industry by SVTC, PARC, CEH & CTBC (Oct 06)

30 30 Office of the Inspector General: Federal Prison Industries e-waste Report October 2010: 433 pages Numerous violations, of health, safety and environmental laws and regulations in which staff and inmates were needlessly exposed to more than heavy 30 metals, particularly lead and cadmium. Concealed warnings about hazards related to toxic metals from UNICOR and BOP staff and from inmates. Staff misconduct and performance failures.

31 31 Purchased 336,180 EPEAT gold or silver registered products (2006-early 2010) Using EPP and an e-steward Recycler: Saved enough energy to power close to 118,000 US households for one year Reduced GHG emissions equivalent to removing over 55,000 cars from the road for one year Reduced the equivalent weight of 322,000 bricks of hazardous waste and 515 mercury thermometers Saved more than $13.5 million of energy cost savings.

32 Recycle & Reuse Diversions E-Recycle Reuse E-Waste Recycling Merchandise Sale Redeployment Units Weight Units Weight Units Weight 5,274 67,894 1,479 34, E-Waste Metals Steel Aluminum Copper Brass Br w/au Stainless 39,419 3, Elect Brds Plastic CRT Glass Bulb Battery 7,391 14, Electricity to power 791 houses/yr Carbon Offset & Landfill Credit Demand Reduction Recycle Resale Redeploy Units Energy 104,215 4,245, Kwh Crude , Barrel (55 gals) Landfill Space Cubic Yards Removing cars from road/yr Environmental, Landfill Natural Resource Reductions Less CO Tons Air contamination prevented 21,543 Tons Landfill diversion 102,347 Pounds Virgin Materials Water pollution prevented 96, ,713 Pounds Gallons Weight of 954 bricks *Includes computers, monitors and cell phones only

33 Key Steps to Get Businesses Started 33 Get IT, purchasing, environmental & waste managers involved and on board early. Get the most senior & political support in the organization as possible. Conduct education and outreach to the staff about why this is important. Develop IT Sustainability Policy or Sign the Sustainable Electronics Pledge

34 Sign CEH s Sustainable Electronics Pledge 34 BUYING GREENER PRODUCTS EPEAT Energy Efficient Products Halogen-Free Products Products from Manufacturers with TakeBack Programs MANAGING ELECTRONICS EFFICIENTLY Extend Lifespan Reduce energy consumption (power management and energy efficiency technologies) RESPONSIBLE RECYCLING RAISING SUPPLIER AWARENESS Communicating preferences to vendors

35 Story of Electronics 35 Coming Soon-November 9th /

36 Thank you! 36 Center for Environmental Health Judy Levin, MSW Pollution Prevention Coordinator (510) ext. 316