CASE STUDY Electronic Waste Management (e-waste) developing a system for the collection, re-use and recycling of old PCs Keywords: Sustainable development Waste disposal and recycling Urban areas Region: Attica, Greece Duration of Project: May 2003 April 2006 Funding: Total cost: 444,000, of which 355,200 European Regional Development Fund contribution SYNTHESIS The Attica Region of Greece developed a new system for the collection, re-use and recycling of old PCs, which is the first of its kind in Greece. The region has developed an integrated electronic waste management plan and the necessary know-how for its implementation. New job opportunities have been created for people from vulnerable social groups and public awareness with regard to electronic waste has been raised significantly. The project aimed to develop an integrated management system for electronic waste in the Attica Region. There were 6 main activities in the project: An analysis of the current situation as regards the management of electronic waste in the Attica region. An analysis of current waste management practices in Greece and elsewhere in Europe. An investigation into PC users' and retailers' attitudes with a view to developing a feasible e-waste management system. Development of an e-waste management scheme in Attica. Pilot implementation, including training and employment of people with disabilities to work on dismantling the PCs. Development of a feasible business plan. The project was managed by the National Technical University of Athens which brought together a partnership for the design and delivery which involved the regional 1
authority, municipalities, an SME, as well as the university. This partnership was innovative for the region, involving the public and private sector and a university. The project was a first step in transposing EU directives concerning e-waste into Greece. Also innovative for this region, was the training and employment of people from vulnerable social groups in the project. The project achieved its objectives. During the pilot phase, 248 PCs were collected, dismantled and recycled. A business plan was drawn up which was able to demonstrate the profitability of such an e-waste management system over a 10 year period. Discussions are underway among the municipalities on continuing and expanding the work of the project. The project demonstrated that users are often unaware of the hazardous substances in their old PCs but that they are interested in recycling opportunities and are even prepared to pay a charge on their PC to cover the costs of recycling. Manufacturers and retailers in the region are less willing to get involved. A critical success factor for this project was the active role of the municipalities. I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Project Objectives The project aimed to develop an integrated management system for electronic waste in the Attica Region. This issue is of particular importance, considering the rapid growth of the Greek information technology (IT) market (3 times higher that the EU average) which has already led to the accumulation of significant quantities of electronic waste and the fact that majority of Greek IT enterprises are based in the greater Attica region. The region also represents the biggest percentage of personal computer (PC) users among all Greek regions. In this context, the management system for electronic waste aimed to contribute to: the minimisation of dangers for public health and the ecosystem, the development of national standards regarding electronic waste management, the growth of experience in order to ensure compliance with Community Directives. The project aimed to: systematically stock take the market and the management of electronic waste in the Attica region develop a methodology for electronic waste management adapted to the specificities of Greek reality design a detailed system of pilot implementation 2
create an educational tool for training people in the dismantling process develop an integrated business and action plan to ensure the technical feasibility and the economic viability of such an investment. Description/type of activity The project was implemented in 6 stages: Identification of the current situation in Attica A large part of the Greek population is concentrated in the Attica Region, and the majority of the Greek IT market is located there. From 1980 to 2020 the total amount of e-waste in the region is estimated at 190,000 tons, of which 26,000 tons are "historical waste" (produced up to 2005). Identification and evaluation of the current waste management practices in Greece and in Europe The project studied management schemes in Belgium (Recupel), Denmark (Targeted Tax), the Netherlands (ICT Milieu), Germany (MeWa), Sweden (El Kretsen) and Switzerland (SWICO) and found the following: The common characteristic is that they are non-profit organisations, developed by the unions of producers in cooperation with local authorities. The latter play a key role in waste collection. Most of the management schemes handle electronic waste together with electrical waste, while there are a wide variety of choices regarding labour and technological equipment. A major problem of all management schemes is "historical" waste, as the waste disposal fee does not cover historical waste. The management system's effectiveness depends mainly on public awareness and motivation, which can be achieved through information campaigns. Investigation of users' and retailers' attitudes towards involvement in an e-waste management system Users' attitudes: Only a small percentage of the computer waste that has been produced to date has ended up in the municipal waste system. Most people store their old PCs or give them away instead of throwing them away, creating an "unofficial" reuse cycle. This results in the accumulation of significant quantities of "historical" waste expected to enter the waste stream at some time in the future. According to a survey of 350 households, the great majority of users (domestic and commercial) are willing to give their old PCs to a waste management system and most users consider it reasonable to include a waste management fee in the price of a new computer. A motivation for users to get involved is collection of the PC. 3
Retailers' attitudes: According to a survey, manufacturers and retailers are not willing to get involved in the collection and management system without government subsidies. Retailers consider private firms to be responsible for e-waste management, in cooperation with local authorities or consumers. Development of an e-waste management scheme in Attica A multi-criteria analysis of alternatives revealed that the optimal form of e-waste management scheme, regarding technical, environmental and social aspects is the following: establishment of a waste management system, focused on re-using computer systems or parts of them and recycling only the materials that cannot be re-used, waste collection in municipal centres, waste transportation by subcontractors, low to medium level of automation in processing, some tasks being undertaken manually. Design and implementation of a pilot test application The Municipality of Agia Varvara participated in the pilot and organised a highly publicised waste collection campaign. As an incentive for citizens to participate in the collection, a lottery was organised with a new PC as a prize. Through this campaign 248 PCs were collected. The dismantling took place at the facilities of the Management Organisation of Public Material. 10 people with disabilities received theoretical and practical training in dismantling the PCs and they were subsequently employed for the purpose of the project. This added a social dimension to the project. The shredding was done by the Partner organisation POLYECO (PCs, printers, faxes) Development of a feasible business plan The business plan examined the prospects of creating an e-waste treatment/recycling unit in Attica and in particular a 3.6 million potential investment in a specialised enterprise activity in this new market offering opportunities but also including risks. The unit has a capacity of 5,000 tons per shift annually and is forecast to have two sources of income arising from the sale of scrap metals and other materials and the fees from the e-waste management system. Over a 10 year timeframe, the investment should return a positive net present value. It is marked that as long as the incoming e-waste quantities increase over time, the economic results will improve, reaching a net before tax profit margin over 15% of the respective turnover at the end of the 10 year period. 4
Beneficiaries The project targeted the municipal authorities (sensitising them for the collection of old PCs), electronic equipment retailers and PC users - households and enterprises, (encouraging them to participate in the collection of old PCs). Special emphasis was also given to people from vulnerable social groups in order to investigate possibilities for the creation of job opportunities. II. POLITICAL AND STRATEGIC CONTEXT Strategic context The project is part of the Regional Innovation Strategy for the Region of Attica, which is based on four quality of life sectors: urban transportation health care environmental protection (e-waste) participative democracy The choice of quality of life as focus for the strategy reflects the particular importance that this issue has for the region and its population of 2.5 million people. In each of these four areas, the Innovative Actions programme proposed an innovative pilot project which would combine technological with socio-economic innovation and bring together the public and business sectors with the RTD community of the region in order to work out a regional innovation strategy and action plan. The programme strengthened the capacity of the public sector of the region to promote innovation as a central element of the overall development policy of the region - not just in the field of quality of life- and introduced a culture of innovation to public institutions and services with key roles in regional policy and development. Innovation This project was the first systematic attempt to examine the current situation in Greece and record the waste electrical and electronic equipment management policies and techniques that are in use. The study of the characteristics of the Attica Region has led to the implementation of a pilot plant application for the dismantling process, where people from vulnerable social groups are involved. Moreover, the training of these people was based on an educational tool that was developed specifically for this purpose. The project also created an innovative partnership through the collaboration of the National Technical University of Athens laboratory with the Municipality of Agia Varvara. 5
Political support Presentations have been made by the Mayor and by representatives of the Municipality of Agia Varvara at various events. The first, organised by the Municipality, concerned the results of the pilot plant application and the training at the Municipality and the installations of the Management Organization of Public Material. The second event was organised by the National Technical University of Athens in collaboration with the Association of Municipalities and Communities of Attica to present the results of the project. The third event, organised by the General Secretary of the Attica Region, presented the results of the Innovative Actions programme as a whole and a workshop dedicated to the project dealt with the next steps in electronic waste management. The Municipality of Agia Varvara also played an important role in the organisation of a campaign for the collection of old computers and it published a brochure on the issue. III. IMPLEMENTATION Programming Discarded electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing waste streams, due to increasing sales and rapid obsolescence of electronic equipment. Electronic waste poses a significant threat to human health and the ecosystem due to both the volume of waste produced and the hazardous materials it contains. To tackle these issues, the EU has adopted 2 directives: Directive 2003/108/EC of 8/12/2003 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/95/EC of 27/01/2003 on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (ROHS). Some Member States (e.g., the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium and Italy) have already transposed these directives into national legislation. In Greece so far neither national legislation nor a programme for the management of e-waste exists. As a result a large proportion of these hazardous materials end up together with the municipal waste stream. This project was a first step to contribute to the transposition of the European directives in Greece. Management structure quality and effectiveness The National Technical University of Athens was the project leader, responsible for the overall management. A Steering Committee was set up to formulate the overall project strategy and to exercise technical planning and financial control, chaired by the scientist of the project and composed of the leaders of the partner organisations. 6
The task leaders, together with relevant researchers formed the Technical Committee. The Steering Committee arranged two meetings per year to review progress and technical achievements. Additional meetings of the Technical Committee were arranged when necessary on request of any partner or for urgent problem solving. Partnership The partners involved in the project were: Region of Attica (Regional Authority Co-funder) EC BIC of Attica (Managing Authority Business plan provider in collaboration with the Laboratory of Mining and Environmental Technology) Laboratory of Mining and Environmental Technology (National Technical University of Athens Content provider) Polyeco S.A. (SME End user) Management Organization of Public Material (Public Organization End user) Municipality of Agia Varvara (Local Authority End user) Association of Municipalities and Communities of Attica (Local Authority End user) Prisma Ltd. (Consultant) Marketing The project was promoted through three conferences and leaflets produced during the pilot plant application. There was also television and newspaper. At the end of the project, the Municipality of Agia Varvara published a brochure concerning hazards related to electronic waste and the solutions to the problem. Obstacles in terms of design or implementation Some obstacles occurred during the survey of PC users since they were not aware of the e-waste problem. Although they were suspicious in the beginning, the information given to them during the survey helped to change their minds and encouraged them to declare that they would be willing to contribute to an electronic waste management system. On the other hand, it was found that producers and retailers are not ready yet to get involved in such a process. There were also some unforeseen delays due mainly to bureaucratic reasons that could be overcome through good cooperation of all partners. 7
Transferability The project could easily be transferred to other regions facing similar problems of a high concentration of PC users and consequently e-waste, no national legislation on e- waste. IV. EFFECTIVENESS Results As a result of the activities of the project, the region has developed an integrated electronic waste management plan and the necessary know-how for its implementation. Potential impact Based on the results of the project, new entrepreneurial opportunities have been identified in the sector of electronic waste management. Moreover, new job opportunities have been created for people from vulnerable social groups, mainly in the dismantling and testing of old equipment. Finally, through the project public awareness with regard to electronic waste has been raised significantly. Sustainability Discussions have already taken place concerning the continuation of the project. Representatives of the Municipality of Agia Varvara have expressed their interest in setting up a collection system. Several other Municipalities expressed their interest during the events organized. Furthermore, the Management Organization of Public Material intends to set up a testing and dismantling unit in collaboration with the Laboratory of Mining and Environmental Technology. V. CONCLUSIONS Lessons learnt Many users ignore the existence of hazardous substances in their PCs. However, the majority of domestic users do not throw away their old PCs. Some store it, while others sell it or give it away, which means that part of the old equipment is re-used. Many commercial users store obsolete equipment in warehouses. As a result, there are significant quantities of historical waste to deal with. Otherwise, some e-waste will end up in landfills. 8
There is a critical mass of historical waste in the Attica Region that is expected to enter into the waste stream in time, the total volume of which is expected to reach 26,000 tons by 2020. Between 2005 and 2020, more than 7.5 million PCs will become obsolete. It is estimated that about 5.7 million PCs will be recycled or reused. For domestic users the most convenient recovery system seems to be collection from home. Therefore municipalities should play a major role in the waste collection system. A multi-criteria analysis was conducted in the region, which revealed that the optimum solution, based on technical, environmental and social aspects, is waste collection in municipal sites and waste transportation by subcontractors. The project demonstrated that in the dismantling and testing of old equipment processes, people from vulnerable social groups can be employed, thus maximising the social benefits of the whole process. Manufacturers and retailers are not willing, at least for the moment, to get involved in the management system. Therefore, a way to encourage them to take more responsibility needs to be found. Clearly, their participation would accelerate the whole processes. Manufacturers and retailers estimated that the market could not afford a charge higher than 5 to the price of a new PC. However, domestic and commercial users seem to be willing to pay a charge of about 20 to 31. As for recycling, plastics are the most difficult to deal with, due to a lack of incineration technologies in Greece. A possible solution is their use as fuels in metallurgy kilns or cement production. Critical success factors A critical issue is the role of the municipalities in the collection of waste. Both public surveys and technical analysis concluded that the most convenient recovery system for the domestic user is collection from the house. The management scheme should involve both reuse and recycling techniques. In the dismantling and testing processes of old equipment, people from vulnerable social groups (e.g. people with disabilities, minorities, etc.) can be successfully employed. Community added value The EU impulse fostered the implementation of this project. Several attempts had been made to mange e-waste. However, these attempts concentrated on specific parts of the problem, mainly technical or financial. This project allowed a holistic 9
approach to design a tailor-made methodology for the Region of Attica, taking into account innovative technologies, environmental effects and social attitudes. Project coordinator Prof. Dimitrios Kaliampakos National Technical University of Athens Laboratory of Mining & Environmental Technology Iroon Polytexniou 9 Athens CONTACT Tel: +30 210 7722211 Fax: +30 210 7722156 E-mail: mmepmm@central.ntua.gr Date of this information 26/07/2006 10