Electronics Department

LifeSpan Seeks Certifications

LifeSpan Technology Recycling, based in Newton, Mass., has begun the process of obtaining Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS) certification developed by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), which incorporates the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Responsible Recycling (R2) standards. The company also is seeking ISO 14001 certification. The company currently holds certifications from the International Association of Electronics Recyclers, which has been incorporated into ISRI, and the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID).

LifeSpan has engaged SGS Group, a management systems certification body, to oversee the certification process.

RIOS is the scrap recycling industry’s standard for integrated quality, environmental, health and safety management (QEHS) systems. ISRI developed RIOS to provide a framework for effectively managing recycling operations and achieving measurable continual improvement in QEHS performance.

R2 is a set of voluntary practices specific to electronic recyclers and their management of environmental, worker health, safety and security issues. The R2 framework was facilitated by the EPA in an open, multi-stakeholder forum that included input and consensus from electronics manufacturers, recyclers, governmental entities and nonprofit organizations.

ISO 14000 is a global standard for environmental management systems that seeks to reduce a company’s environmental footprint, pollution and waste.

Two Nonprofits Partner on Electronics Recycling Clearinghouse

Two nonprofit organizations, the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER), Parkersburg, W.Va., and the Northeast Recycling Council Inc. (NERC), Brattleboro, Vt., have announced the formation of the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse (ERCC), based in Parkersburg. The ERCC’s goal is to serve as a forum for coordination and information exchange among state and local agencies that are implementing electronics recycling take-back laws.

The NERC will administer the ERCC, while the NCER will act as manager.

“Despite the patchwork of state requirements on electronics recycling, the ERCC will play a valuable role in reducing administrative overlap and simplifying compliance efforts for manufacturers and other impacted stakeholders,” says Jason Linnell, NCER executive director.

 The governance, dues structure and basic activities of the ERCC are modeled on the successful organization currently managed by NERC known as the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse.

More information will be available at www.electronicsrecycling.org/ercc.

Finnish Firm Opens Electronics Recycling Facility in Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center Inc. (PRMC), Middletown, Pa., has announced that the Finnish firm Kuusakoski has launched an electronics recycling plant in Philadelphia, known as Kuusakoski Philadelphia LLC. It will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuusakoski OY.

The launch took two years of technical management and project coordination by the nonprofit PRMC.

At full production, the electronics recycling facility, slated to cost nearly $10 million, will recover and process a minimum of 15,000 tons of electronic scrap per year, according to a PRMC press release. The facility will employ about 30 people.

The Kuusakoski processing technology is the first of its kind introduced to the United States, according to the PRMC. The technology is currently in operation in Finland, Sweden and Russia. Kuusakoski also operates a number of trading offices throughout the world.

“We are excited and eager to move forward in building many new business opportunities,” says Richard Burgess, formerly president of BGA Commodities, who has been appointed CEO and managing partner of Kuusakoski Philadelphia. Kuusakoski has acquired BGA Commodities, which was based in Philadelphia and handled electronic scrap and industrial scrap metal.

Burgess says the facility, to be located at the former BGA site, will install two large pieces of processing equipment before the end of 2010. In the meantime, the company will collect material and ship the unprocessed electronics to Kuusakoski’s European locations.

 “Without involvement of [P]RMC, it is likely our efforts to invest in Pennsylvania would not have occurred,” says Vesa Samela, Kuusakoski country manager USA.