Electronics Recycling News

ISRI Board Charts Road Map to Address Global Electronic Scrap Recycling

The board of directors of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) has laid out a road map addressing the growing problem of the improper export of end-of-life electronic scrap.

In voting unanimously to approve a new policy designed to protect health, the environment and worker safety, ISRI’s board of directors signaled that its members are behind efforts to stem possible health and environmental hazards that occur when e-scrap is not exported responsibly, according to the organzation.

Robin Wiener, president of ISRI, says, “The ISRI board voted today to adopt an aggressive, forward-looking policy that puts forth a safe, responsible and legal framework for electronics recycling both at home and abroad.”

She adds, “Among other provisions, the policy bans the export of electronic equipment and components for landfilling or incineration for disposal and requires that facilities outside the U.S. that recycle or refurbish electronics have a documented, verifiable environmental, health and worker safety system in place.”

ISRI says its board’s decision reinforces environmental, health and worker safety standards that closely track the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Responsible Recycling (R2) program. EPA’s R2 program was finalized in 2008 and is designed to help electronics recyclers create and adopt safe and effective policies, both in the United States and abroad.

“ISRI has always been a staunch supporter of recycling electronics in compliance with domestic and international legal requirements,” Wiener says. “This is emphasized in the new policy, which requires that facilities outside the United States that recycle or refurbish electronics have a documented environmental, health and worker safety system that can be verified; requires a business recordkeeping system to document compliance with all legal requirements; requires that any facility must be capable of handling hazardous waste; and ensures that U.S. exporters can confirm a facility they export to is in compliance with the law.”

Eric Harris, ISRI director of government and international affairs, says the newly adopted policy includes provisions that will address actual problems in recycling facilities throughout the world, rather than requiring a total trade ban on the export of electronic scrap as the only viable way to deal with irresponsible recycling outside of the U.S.

“The policy adopted by the ISRI board of directors embodies the most environmentally sustainable and realistic approach to electronic scrap recycling,” Wiener adds. “This is a responsible, safe and legal approach to electronics recycling that protects worker health and safety, as well as ensuring environmentally sustainable practices that can actually deal with this global issue.”

The Basel Action Network (BAN), Seattle, has criticized ISRI for its position. In a release sent following ISRI’s statement, BAN denounces the announcement as a “greenwash” and a perpetuation of an “export your harm” approach used to dispose of electronic scrap produced each year in the U.S. BAN claims that ISRI’s policy fails to reference or even take note of the Basel Convention, a U.N. agreement now in force for 172 countries that strictly regulates global trade in waste.

The Basel Convention treaty forbids member countries from importing waste material from a non-party such as the United States. Therefore, according to BAN, ISRI’s lack of referral to the treaty could “create illegal trafficking in waste worldwide.”

SRS Adds Cleaning Equipment at Tennessee Electronics Recycling Facility

Sims Recycling Solutions (SRS), with U.S. headquarters in Chicago, has recently added an advanced metals separator to the equipment it uses to process obsolete electronics at its electronics recycling plant in Nashville, Tenn.

The metal finder separator is designed to remove copper, circuit boards and other metals from material that already has been sorted. The equipment has been installed at the end of the separation line.

“This will yield a cleaner, less contaminated product that can be reused more efficiently,” says Pete Womble, SRS projects/engineering manager.

The system is the first of its type installed at an SRS electronics recycling facility. The company may install the separator at its other facilities. While the Nashville facility is one of SRS’s largest processing centers, the company says it also chose the plant because the quality of the material being processed was not meeting targeted levels.

Since being implemented in September of 2009, the metals separator has processed more than 1 million pounds of material. Resulting plastic is further separated into recyclable streams in a process designed to produce little or no waste, according to SRS.

Former Execs from RadioShack, Sprint Start Phone Recycling Firm

During the recently held meeting of the Wireless Association, a newly formed company, eRecyclingCorps, has announced its ambition to handle a large number of mobile cell phones disposed of each year.

The company estimates that there are roughly 4 billion wireless subscribers in the world. Representatives from eRecyclingCorps, based in Dallas, say that only 1 percent of these products are recycled each year. The company’s goal is to work with carriers on various buyback programs.

ERecyclingCorps will work with carriers to establish customized, scalable buy-back programs. To accomplish this, the company is installing a Web-based platform that integrates directly into the point-of-sale system at a carrier’s retail stores.

Sprint is the first carrier to use eRecyclingCorps. The company has deployed the system in 1,100 company-owned Sprint stores and 1,400 Sprint Preferred Dealers as well as through its online channels. Sprint has announced a goal to achieve a wireless reuse and recycling rate of 90 percent of device sales by 2017.

Founders of eRecyclingCorps include CEO David Edmondson, who previously was CEO of RadioShack, and chairman Ron LeMay, formerly president and COO of Sprint.

“The unprecedented growth in the global wireless industry has transformed the way people live, work and play. The unintended consequence of that growth is a mountain of toxic environmental e-waste,” says Edmondson. “We are committed to transforming the wireless eco-system through comprehensive incentives, which address both our collective responsibility to the environment and provide an economically viable solution to the growing problem of e-waste.”

Asset Recovery Corp. Receives NAID Certification

Asset Recovery Corp., St. Paul, Minn., has announced that it is now certified by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), Phoenix, for computer hard drive sanitization and destruction. Both its plant-based and mobile solutions have received NAID certification.

“Since our company’s inception in 1987, we have put our customers first,” says Marshall Johnson, CEO of Asset Recovery Corp. “Our job is to protect our customer’s brand by eliminating data and environmental concerns. By receiving NAID’s AAA Certification, we have demonstrated this commitment.”

Asset Recovery’s data sanitization services are designed to ensure elimination of sensitive data from a range of equipment. Services also include optional equipment destruction and removal of identification tags.

Each of these services is available at Asset Recovery Corp.’s high-security facility or on-location at a customer’s site.

More information about NAID AAA Certification is available at www.naidonline.org. 

Ontario Agency Introduces Second Phase of Electronics Recycling Program

The second phase of Ontario’s electronics recycling program began April 1, when more than 500 collection sites throughout the province started accepting a wider range of obsolete electronics.

The first phase of the province’s collection program, begun April 1, 2009, targeted desktop and portable computers, computer peripherals, monitors, printers, fax machines and television sets. Through the second phase, residents can add a total of 44 electronic devices at drop-off sites throughout the province.

Beginning with the second phase, the Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES) plans to collect more than 46,000 metric tons of obsolete electronics. The OES says the goal for the fifth year is to collect 85,000 metric tons of obsolete electronics.

“This program makes recycling easier and encourages consumers and businesses to do what they can to help,” says Carol Hochu, OES executive director.

Ontario residents can visit www.dowhatyoucan.ca and choose “Electronics” to find the nearest recycling location.

The electronic equipment recycling program is funded by fees paid to OES by manufacturers and importers of electronics in Ontario. Funds are used exclusively to pay for collection, transportation, consolidation and processing of scrapped electronics as well as research and consumer education programs to encourage greater electronic equipment recycling.