By Mary K. Pratt, ComputerWorld.com,
Residents in Wylie, Texas, had no problems getting rid of their old computers: They just threw them in the trash.
But that approach was costing the city more and more in landfill and hauling fees, particularly during the city's semiannual Cleanup-Greenup campaigns, when residents would toss their junk into Dumpsters bound for landfills, says Michael B. Sferra, Wylie's public services director.
As Sferra tried to cut costs, he discovered that companies that recycle computers and other electronic waste charge less than those hauling junk away to landfills. "I was utterly surprised," he says.
The city recycled 15,000 pounds of computers, printers and other such "e-waste" the first time it offered the service, at its April 2006 Cleanup-Greenup day. It collected another 7,000 pounds of e-waste last fall and 10,500 pounds this past April.
Score one for Mother Earth.
Wylie's work is part of a growing effort to help people get rid of their e-waste in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Local and state governments, retailers, manufacturers and advocacy groups are all getting in on the action, sponsoring events and programs to reuse and recycle electronic trash. As good as that sounds, however, there are still no national regulations requiring consumers to recycle their old electronics, although some initial steps have been taken.
Moreover, local governments that offer or require recycling face challenges getting people to fully comply with their efforts. And consumers themselves face challenges when they try to do the right thing, since not every computer recycling program meets industry standards meant to protect the environment, the people who handle the old equipment and even the data that resides on the devices themselves.
"Clearly there is an inefficient solution today," says Chip Slack, chairman and CEO of Intechra Inc., a corporate recycling company based in Jackson, Miss.
Wading through e-waste
The size of the problem is staggering.
Each year the United States scraps about 400 million units of consumer electronics, according to the Computer TakeBack Campaign, a national coalition of environmental organizations. In fact, e-waste is the fastest growing portion of the country's waste stream, growing by almost 8 percent from 2004 to 2005, even while overall municipal waste stream volume is declining, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Very little e-waste is actually recycled, though. Of the estimated 2.63 million tons of e-waste generated in the United States in 2005, the EPA estimates that only 12.5 percent was collected for recycling. The rest went to landfills and incinerators.
Volume isn't the only problem. More than 1,000 different raw materials are used to make electronic products, according to the Computer TakeBack Campaign. These materials include chlorinated solvents, brominated flame retardants, PVCs, heavy metals, plastics and gases. A CRT monitor, for example, can contain 4 to 8 pounds of lead. And while flat-panel monitors contain less lead than CRTs, they do contain mercury.
The news gets even worse.
Industry watchdogs say that some electronics bound for recycling end up overseas, where they're stripped of precious metals and other valuable materials using rudimentary and unsafe processes; the leftover carcasses are just dumped. Estimates vary, but Greenpeace says 50 percent to 80 percent of e-waste collected for recycling in the United States is exported, most often to China, India and other Third World countries.
Add to this the fact that most consumers are stockpiling old equipment -- the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an advocacy group in San Jose, estimates that more than 75 percent of all computers ever sold remain stored away -- and the problem seems nearly insurmountable.
Solutions are coming
Jake Player sees opportunity in such statistics. Player is president of TechTurn Inc., an Austin company that works with businesses to refurbish and recycle their old electronics. He says TechTurn is gearing up to offer consumers the same services.
"The research we've done [shows] that consumers do have a lot of computers and IT peripherals in their attics, their closets or storage. We're trying to figure out how to help consumers by providing programs to take those computers back," he says.
Company research shows that computer owners are concerned about the environmental and health issues surrounding e-waste as well as the security of personal data stored on their discarded computers. Yet, despite these concerns, 90 percent of the 245 computer owners the company surveyed said they didn't know they could use a private recycler like TechTurn to get rid of their old PCs and the rest of their outdated gizmos and gadgets. The research also shows that more than 60 percent of respondents are willing to pay for the service.
TechTurn is still working out logistics, but Player says it plans to offer consumers a way to drop off their old computers, MP3 players, PDAs and similar equipment, pay a fee and know that their electronics and any data on them will be handled responsibly. The goal is to have a pilot program later this year, he adds.
Laws of the land
But how much impact programs like TechTurn's will make is up for debate. After all, we don't recycle most of our everyday recyclables. The EPA estimates, for example, that we recycle only 50 percent of all paper, 34 percent of all plastic soft drink bottles and 45 percent of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans.
Moreover, many U.S. residents have no legal obligation to recycle their computers and other e-waste; there is no national statute requiring them to do so, and according to Matt Hale, director of the EPA's Office of Solid Waste, a national mandate to recycle computers, electronics and related components is not on the horizon.
Instead, Hale says, the federal government is working to increase recycling options and opportunities for consumers "so that everybody with a piece of electronics can find a place for recycling." He says the EPA is working with state and municipal governments as well as manufacturers and retailers to develop collection programs and increase consumer awareness about the issue. "Ease of recycling is a key element to get items recycled," he says.
While enforced recycling of electronic equipment doesn't seem to be in the works, legislation is pending in Congress that would add a recycling "e-fee" to the price of new electronics. If passed, the National Computer Recycling Act, introduced in January of this year by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and being reviewed by the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, would impose a charge of up to US$10 on new laptops, monitors, televisions and other electronic devices to cover the cost of their proper disposal down the road.
Other nations are more aggressive in this area. The European Union enacted the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive, both of which put more responsibilities on manufacturers to take back their equipment and reduce the use of hazardous materials in their products. China in March implemented its version, called Management Methods for Controlling Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products Regulation, or China RoHS.
Moreover, many industrialized countries -- although not the United States -- have agreed to stop the export of hazardous waste, including e-waste, to developing countries as part of the Basel Convention.
That's not to say, however, that Americans aren't taking action. Local and state governments are passing laws that mandate recycling by their constituents or the businesses that sell electronics to them.
Consider, for instance, what's happening in Washington state. Some 40 percent of the population there lives in counties that have disposal bans on electronics, says Jay Shepard, a policy adviser for the state's Department of Ecology. In addition, state lawmakers in 2006 passed a law requiring manufacturers who sell computers, laptops, monitors and TVs to provide for recycling these products when their owners are done with them.
The state is still writing the regulations needed to implement the take-back law, which requires manufacturers who sell products in the state to register, pay administrative fees and label their products.
While the response from manufacturers has been mixed, Shepard says the state's residents are excited to have the program in place -- even if it's not going to be fully implemented until 2009.
Other states with e-waste recycling laws include California, Maine and Maryland, and according to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, about a dozen more states are expected to introduce similar bills within a year. Just this month, Minnesota and Texas lawmakers passed bills requiring electronics manufacturers to pay for collection and recycling of household e-waste. The governors of both states are expected to sign the bills.
Getting the word out
Plano, Texas, is trying to tackle the problem through information rather than legislation. The city offers residents information about computer and electronics manufacturers that have take-back programs, and it has a free online listing service where residents can post their used products, including electronics, to see if other local residents or nonprofits want them. In addition, Plano has a monthly electronics collection, where residents can pay a nominal fee -- $10 for a TV, $5 for a monitor -- to have the equipment recycled.
Intechra, which has a contract with the city to recycle the material, has collected 495 units weighing 58,800 pounds during the past 12 months, says the city's sustainability communications coordinator, Melinda Sweney.
"Diverting electronics from landfills through recycling is essential because it keeps hazardous materials like lead, copper and mercury out of our water supply. It is always the responsible alternative to throwing items in the garbage," Sweney says.
But Sweney acknowledges that some residents still put out their computers with the regular trash. The city has a way to help combat that, though: The trash-truck drivers leave preprinted tags that encourage the residents to take advantage of the city's recycling program next time. (They do, however, haul away the electronics with the trash because there are no laws against it, Sweney says.)
"The No. 1 challenge is awareness," says Slack, Intechra's CEO. "But awareness is growing, awareness that the consumer should be concerned about environmental issues and the data issues."
Intechra, which also recycles the e-waste for Wylie, Texas, as well as other communities and companies, has a no-landfill policy and reuses or recycles nearly everything -- down to the cardboard and plastic wrap used in shipping. It also destroys all data on the devices, so that any hard drives refurbished for the secondary market pose no threat to the original owners.
Other options
While Plano and Wylie make it easier for residents to do the right thing, consumers everywhere are getting help with recycling. Computer manufacturers and retailers are implementing more, and more extensive, recycling programs that offer the same level of environmental and social protection as private recyclers like Intechra.
Just look at Dell Inc. of Round Rock, Texas. It was the first computer manufacturer to offer consumers free recycling of its own products at any time with no replacement purchase required. It's interesting to note, too, that about 98 percent of a computer processed by a Dell-certified recycling vendor can be either reused or recycled back into raw materials.
"Our goal is to make it as easy for consumers as possible to recycle," says Joe Strathmann, senior manager of Dell's Asset Recovery Services in Austin.
Dell has loftier ambitions for the future. Strathmann says the company is looking at new technologies that could help it recover that last 2 percent. It also has a "design for the environment" program that promotes designing products that require less energy, use fewer toxic materials and can be disassembled easier and more completely to reclaim every bit.
Other manufacturers with consumer recycling programs include Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto, Calif.; Lenovo Group Ltd. of Raleigh, N.C., and Beijing; Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; and Gateway Inc. of Irvine, Calif. Like Dell, many manufacturers are also pushing more environmentally friendly design. Apple, for example, recently announced its efforts to further reduce toxic materials in its products.
Retailers are doing their part, too. Staples Inc. of Framingham, Mass., recently announced that it will work with Amandi Services Inc., an electronics recycling company, to allow customers to drop off used equipment for recycling at its stores. Customers will have to pay a $10 fee for large items, but they won't have to pay for small components such as keyboards and mice.
Best Buy Co. Inc. of Minneapolis is likewise on board with electronics recycling. According to the company, its programs recycled more than 30,000 tons of e-waste in 2006. Consumers can drop off cell phones, rechargeable batteries and ink-jet cartridges for free at kiosks inside every U.S. Best Buy store. Or they can pay nominal fees to have Best Buy take back TVs and computer monitors. And they can watch for company-sponsored weekend recycling events in store parking lots, where the store collects computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, TVs, audio equipment, VCRs and DVD players for recycling.
Best Buy spokeswoman Kelly Groehler says the company sees its programs as a way to help serve the customer -- after all, if they're buying something new they generally have to get rid of something old. Moreover, though, she says Best Buy sees it as part of its corporate responsibility.
But in the end, consumers need to take more responsibility, too. "If you look at the volume [of what we're recycling], it's a long way from what we sell. You do have customers who are more progressive in their thinking, but it's really on us to tell them about these programs and to remind them to take advantage of them," Groehler says.
She adds: "We think everyone has to share responsibility. Everyone has to do their part."
What to do
1. Don't wait too long to dispose of old electronics. The older the equipment, the less likely it can be refurbished and reused, which is the most ecological option available.
2. Destroy your data, even if you're recycling with a company that wipes hard drives clean. You must do more than delete the material. You need to run software designed to destroy the data. Low- and no-cost options for Windows are available both in stores and online (look for software that will overwrite or completely remove data from your hard drive), and Mac OS X comes with its own built-in data-removal tools.
3. Sell. Once your hard drive is wiped clean, try Craigslist, eBay or an old-fashioned tag sale.
4. Donate. Schools, charities and nonprofits might be interested in your used computer. Just be sure to ask before donating -- you don't want to dump your old stuff on someone who can't use it. Also, check out the federal Environmental Protection Agency's list of donation programs and TechSoup's Ten Tips for Donating a Computer.
5. Recycle. You might have to do some digging to find the most convenient or cost-effective option, but recycling programs are available to just about everyone. Ask your city, town or county government about community recycling events. Check with the equipment's original manufacturer or the retailer where you made the purchase to see if they have take-back programs. Seek out a private recycler if the other options lead nowhere.
6. Get answers. Whether you're using your town's recycling program or one sponsored by a local store, find out how all components are handled. Ask whether the company does multipass wipes to destroy all data; performs audits that detail where every pound of material brought in ends up; has environmental management certifications or systems, such as ISO 14001 or certifications from the International Association of Electronics Recyclers (IAER) or the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI); and has a no-landfill policy or prohibits shipment of waste overseas. A more complete list of questions for recyclers is available at the Electronic Industries Alliance Web site.
Pratt is a Computerworld contributing writer in Waltham, Mass. Contact her at marykpratt@verizon.net.
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