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E-Scrap News
January 15, 2010
In This Issue:
TECHTURN, WASTE MANAGEMENT R2 CERTIFIED
NYC ELECTRONIC RECYCLING LAWSUIT BEGINS NEXT WEEK
SUSTAINABLE ELECTRONICS SUMMIT COMING IN FEB.
CALRECYCLE EMERGES AS CONSOLIDATED BODY
GLOBAL PC SHIPMENTS SOAR IN Q4
NOKIA AGAIN TOPS GREENPEACE RANKINGS
NEWSBITS
1 | TechTurn, Waste Management R2 certified
The first two firms certified under the Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices
were announced recently, with
TechTurn the first to cross the proverbial finish line with its Austin, Texas
facility and Waste Management
Recycle America the next to announce certification with its Minneapolis
e-cycling facility.
TechTurn was certified for both R2 and for the Institute of Scrap
Recycling Industries, Inc.'s RIOS
certification program by SGS U.S. Testing Services Inc., an ANAB-accredited
third-party auditor.
"We are excited about this milestone for TechTurn, and encourage all
recyclers to pursue certification of
these standards," said Jeff Zeigler, TechTurn's founder and CEO, in a press
release announcing the certification.
"We were glad to participate in the multi-stakeholder process, to develop the
R2/RIOS standards, and are
thrilled to see the certification process begin. Like our ISO certifications,
the R2/RIOS standards formalize
environmental best practices, make our business more efficient, and deliver
higher level service to our
partners."
When WM Recycle America announced that its Minneapolis facility ? one
of the company's largest for
electronics processing ? was certified to R2 standards, the company also
revealed that it would be seeking the
certification for all of its facilities. "Waste Management has rigorous
internal standards around the safe
processing of e-waste and, by implementing the R2 protocols, we are able to
further demonstrate our commitment
to leading the way in responsible environmental and safety practices," said
Patrick DeRueda, president of
WM Recycle America.
2 | NYC electronic recycling lawsuit begins next week
The lawsuit over New York City's electronic recycling law is set to begin next
week, with some saying that the
results could have far-reaching implications for e-scrap stewardship
legislation from around the country. With
oral arguments for the suit, filed by the Consumer Electronics Association
(CEA) and the Information Technology
Industry Council (ITI), expected to begin Monday, January 19th, supporters of
the NYC law held a conference call
yesterday.
The general consensus was that the NYC law was targeted by the
electronics industry, because of a
requirement in the law that manufacturers must provide "convenient collection"
for items heavier than 15 pounds.
Manufacturers say that this mandate would require them to provide door-to-door,
on-demand pickup for the Big
Apple's eight million residents. The law's supporters say that the
manufacturers are being disingenuous, and are
using the suit to weaken electronics recycling laws around the country.
"If [the law] is struck down, it would slow or hold enacting
legislation around the country," said
Barbara Kyle, national coordinator for the Electronics TakeBack Coalition. "If
gone, expect to see the
electronics industry go after Minnesota, Washington State or Oregon ? states
with strong product stewardship
legislation enacted." Nineteen states currently have
extended-producer-responsibility electronics recycling laws
on the books, not counting NYC.
In one brief filed in conjunction with the lawsuit, manufacturers say
that the law's "onerous mandates
and significant compliance costs" will force small electronics manufacturers
out of the city and, perhaps, out if
business. One estimate by manufacturers places the cost for covering pickup in
the city at $200 million
annually.
Kate Sinding, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense
Council, says that there are numerous
options available to manufacturers that would not involve door-to-door pickup,
including holding collection
events, supporting permanent collection facilities and mail-back programs.
3 | Sustainable Electronics Summit coming in Feb.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Sustainable Electronics
Initiative's Sustainability Summit will be
held February 23-24 at the I-Hotel Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois.
Topics include the design and
manufacture of green electronics, the responsible disposal and recycling of
existing electronics, collection
strategies and the latest research and development programs, including a
presentation by EPA assistant administer
of the Office of Research and Development, Paul Anastas. More information on
the event can be found at here.
4 | CalRecycle emerges as consolidated body
The California Integrated Waste Management Board officially ceased to exist
January 1st, marking an
unceremonious end to the 20 year organization. The CIWMB is succeeded by the
Department of Resources Recycling
and Recovery (commonly known as CalRecycle), a new body that will incorporate
many of the elements of the defunct
organization, as well as components of the beverage container recycling and
redemption program, the oil recycling
program and the state's tire recycling program.
Senate Bill 63, which authorized the changes, was signed by Governor
Schwarzenegger on July 28 of last
year, and also moved the Division of Recycling from the Department of
Conservation to the new CalRecycle body.
Positions within the body are already being filled, with former CIWMB chief
counsel Elliot Block and former CIWMB
chair Margo Reid Brown named as chief counsel and acting director, respectably.
Although it may seem that the impetus for consolidating California's
various recycling programs under the
CalRecycle body (administered by the California Natural Resources Agency) was
to help reduce the Golden State's
$20 billion budget deficit, sources close to the story say the reorganization
will have no impact on
California's fiscal situation. The CIWMB, for instance, was not funded through
the state's general fund. Whether
the state will be able to reduce waste through the revised appointment process
of program administrators remains
to be seen, as does the broader impact of the organization.
5 | Global PC shipments soar in Q4
Strong holiday sales drove a surge in worldwide shipments of personal computer,
according to the most recent
reports by research firms IDC and Gartner, seeing a 15.2 percent and a 22.1
percent rise in global PC shipments,
respectively. The trackers said the growth was largely due to strong sales of
low-cost notebook and tiny netbook
computers, with their $300-$500 approximate price tags low enough to entice
consumers even in a down economy.
Hewlett-Packard saw its top spot in the PC market grow to a 21-percent
share, a 23 percent increase from
the same period a year earlier, according to IDC figures. The number two PC
maker, Acer, with a 13.4-percent
share, also saw gains with a 28 percent year-over-year (YOY) increase. Dell, at
number three with a 12.4-percent
share, continued to see a decline in share despite a five percent increase in
YOY shipments.
6 | Nokia again tops Greenpeace rankings
Concurring with the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, with the attendant green
claims by many companies, Greenpeace
again called itself the final arbiter of environmental friendliness, issuing
its latest Guide to Greener Electronics.
In the guide, the 14th overall, the Finnish mobile electronics giant
Nokia took the top spot for the
sixth straight time, earning praise for toxics use reduction; however, Nokia
was pinged for "failing to do
proactive lobbying for the revised RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances in
electronics) Directive to adopt a
methodology for further restrictions of hazardous substances, and immediately
ban chlorinated and brominated
substances," easily illustrating the type of moving finish line Greenpeace
specializes in.
Sony Ericsson moved up to second place as the "best performer on the
toxic chemicals criteria of all the
ranked brands," though criticized for being "weak on recycling."
Apple continues its upward movement through the rankings ? climbing
from 11th two guides ago ? to fifth
place, earning high marks for "eliminating toxic chemicals and e-waste
criteria."
Video game console makers continue to bring up the rear in the guide,
as Microsoft and Nintendo claimed
the last two spots, respectively. For its part, Nintendo responded to
Greenpeace's criticisms, saying that it
does, indeed, "consider the environmental impact of its products over their
entire lifecycle, from planning to
disposal," pointing to its products' relative energy efficiency, specifically,
as proof of its good intentions.
7 | NewsBits
In its first year of operations, E-Cycle Washington collected over 38.5 million
pounds of covered electronic
devices, with televisions accounting for 58 percent (22.3 million pounds) of
that total. Monitors accounted for
32 percent (12.3 million pounds) of the total, while computers accounted for 10
percent (3.9 million pounds) ...
CRT Processing has changed its name to Universal Recycling Technologies (URT),
saying the new name better
reflects the company's other processing services, including handling universal
waste, electronic scrap, asset
management, as well as pre-paid pack-and-ship recycling box programs ... Plans
for Canada's tiny Prince Edward
Island province to get its own e-scrap recovery program are underway, with
Atlantic Canada Electronics
Stewardship saying that it hopes to have a provincewide system in place around
July 1st ... Companies continued
to tout their green side at the 2010 Consumer Electronic Show, with recycled
content being a key reason to sing
one's praise ? for example, the chassis for Sony's new VAIO W "eco-edition"
mini laptop includes more than
20-percent recycled PC and ABS, which comes from recycled CDs and DVDs. The
laptop's carrying case is made from
recycled PET ... Re-use, being a sometimes underrepresented facet of being
green, was pushed by ReCellular, with
the company bravely plugging its refurbished cellphones at the epicenter of
virgin electronic wares.
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