E-Recycling, California Style

An occasional computer system placed on the curbside is picked up by trash haulers, thrown in a garbage truck and compacted within the bowels of the vehicle. Chances are the monitor is crushed in the process. Once dumped with the rest of the garbage at the local landfill, the lead in the monitor glass is exposed and can potentially leach into groundwater.

Such a scenario was relegated to the world of fiction in the state of California when legislation known as Senate Bill (SB) 20, or the Electronic Waste & Recycling Act of 2003, was signed into law by then-Gov. Gray Davis in September of 2003, banning the disposal of TVs and computer monitors in landfills.

Sen. Byron Sher, a Democrat from California’s 11th District (whose term has ended), Sacramento-based Californians Against Waste, San Jose-based The Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition and a board of vested stakeholders have collaborated since to fine-tune the bill and to design its implementation.

With the enactment of SB 20, the state established another landmark date that could set a standard for the rest of the country. Beginning Jan. 1, 2005, anyone who purchases an electronic device containing a CRT (cathode ray tube) or flat-panel display, such as a television or computer monitor, will pay a fee to cover recycling costs. Retailers deposit the revenue into a fund the state uses to pay authorized recyclers for dismantling the covered electronic devices, currently TVs, computer monitors and laptops with a screen size of at least 4 inches measured diagonally. Starting July 1, 2005, TVs with plasma and LCD (liquid crystal display) screens will be added to the program.

JUMPING IN. As soon as California decided that monitors and TVs were hazardous in August of 2001, the San Luis Obispo Integrated Waste Management Authority activated five free electronics collection sites.

"We jumped in feet first," says authority Manager William Worrell, who helped with the development of SB 20 regulations.

He says, "It was costing about $100,000 a year to deal with the e-waste stream. Now that it’s being funded by the appropriate source, it removes that entire cost from the authority."

Worrell adds that he’d like to see the same system for paint, pesticide and all the other household hazardous wastes the authority manages.

While the state got off to a rocky start, having pushed back the fee implementation date twice, things appear to be running more smoothly. And it all starts with electronics retailers.

In an Encinitas, Calif., Circuit City, a TV department manager describes the point of purchase process. "When someone buys a TV, the register throws the fee into the tax bracket on the receipt, and it is broken down separately for the customer." Kiosks in the store post information about the law. "Most people have no problem with the fee and are glad something is being done about it," he says.

United Datatech/ECS Refining, Santa Clara, Calif., is an approved collection and recycling facility under one roof, testing refurbished equipment for resale, disassembling equipment for usable components and offering secure data destruction capabilities and three different types of shredders for physical destruction. Because the company is engaged in both processes, Vice President/General Manager Tom Hogye represented United Datatech during the SB 20 formulation process, attending board meetings and offering testing, analysis and tours of the company’s facilities.

Although the state says it is committed to paying participants within a 30-to-45-day range, Hogye says his company would be pleasantly surprised if it occurs. "There might be a hitch in the giddy up that causes a delay until things get rolling. Or maybe we or one of our collectors didn’t fill our paperwork out properly," he says.

After the state pays out the 48 cents per pound of covered e-scrap, recyclers are committed to paying 20 cents per pound to authorized collectors who deliver material to them.

Electronics collectors and recyclers must be registered with the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC), though participating in the payment system is voluntary. Once in the system, support is readily available.

Chris Peck, spokesman for the California Integrated Waste Management Board, describes the roles of each agency quite simply: The Board of Equalization (BOE) collects the fees, the Integrated Waste Management Board pays the recyclers, and the DTSC determines what materials are classified as hazardous and which items are covered by the program. The DTSC also inspects potential collectors and recyclers.

Hogye says he has found that "the state has been very supportive. They welcome our phone calls because we ask poignant questions about processes and procedures and how our paperwork should be filled out."

To ease Californians into the SB 20 system, government, manufacturers, retailers and the environmental community collaborated to design one Web site (www.eRecycle.org), rather than making stakeholders wade through each associated government agency’s Web site. ERecycle.org not only educates consumers about the Electronic Waste & Recycling Act of 2003, it also walks potential collectors and recyclers through the certification process. This Web site is the logical starting place for companies that want to familiarize themselves with the requirements of the law, DTSC Information Officer Ron Baker says.

"Someone starting from scratch can go to www.eRecycle.org to look at documents for ideas of how to do it, what we look for during inspections, what forms to fill out," he says. The site provides fact sheets, standards and other information for those businesses that recycle components, he adds.

As an example, consumers in Santa Ana, Calif., who have accumulated computer systems and TVs in their households, can feel confident that such electronic devices will be handled appropriately when taken to the now-certified collector Goodwill Industries of Orange County. Facilities Director Randy Taylor says, "We collect the equipment at our two computer stores and sell the systems and parts through these stores. The computer parts or systems we can’t sell [to consumers] we separate and sell to a certified recycler."

Taylor says that he has found the state supportive during the certification process and that he is looking forward to the development of a Goodwill-Dell partnership for curbside collection of unwanted computers that is comparable to the current Austin, Texas, model.

Waste Management, headquartered in Houston, along with its subsidiary Recycle America Alliance (RAA) in San Leandro, Calif., is involved in collection and recycling operations covered under the law. This includes curbside collection, ongoing drop-off programs and disposal facilities and recycling of the materials, Kevin McCarthy, former vice president of Government Affairs-Recycling for RAA says. McCarthy also served as director of electronics recycling for RAA and now is the business development manager for Tierra Verde Industries and E-Recycling of California

From McCarthy’s vantage point, the system is working fine in retail outlets, but questions have been raised about the collection of the fee on Internet sales. McCarthy says, "The people that are selling products via the Internet to purchasers in California are supposed to report those sales. This has nothing to do with, say, Dell, who is registered and fully engaged in participating. It has to do with the state agency working out some rulings on how to collect the money," he says.

WORKING OUT THE KINKS. When any major environmental law goes into effect, problems are anticipated and areas will need to be fine-tuned during the implementation process. For these situations, McCarthy says, there is cleanup legislation. "We’ve already had one bill, SB 50, passed in the fall, that needed some technical changes and was cleaned up. I’m sure there will be [additional] cleanup bills related to SB 20."