SCN: Recycling

Mon Apr 16 08:31:32 PDT 2001

x-no-archive: yes

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(Jonathan Skillings, ZDNet, excerpts)---Hoping to stave off 
governmental mandates, computer makers are considering the most 
favorable way to set up an industrywide scheme to promote the 
recycling of obsolete PCs and related products.  

A preliminary decision on a course of action could come next week 
when industry representatives and state officials sit down in an 
effort to find common ground. State governments and environmental 
groups are hoping that manufacturers will take responsibility for 
computers past the point of sale, while computer makers are looking 
for regulatory and cost concessions from the states.  

The issue of what to do with so-called "end-of-life" electronics has 
been gathering steam since the mid-1990s and seems set to have 
come to a head.  

PCs in particular, with an average life span of just a few years, are 
going out of service faster than they are being produced.  

"This is a big environmental issue, frankly," said Gordon Hui, an 
analyst in the Environmental Protection Agency's Extended Product 
Responsibility program. Computers and other electronics devices 
are "a growing waste stream," he said.  

The showdown is set to take place Thursday, in conjunction with the 
National Safety Council's Electronic Product Recovery and 
Recycling (EPR2) Conference in Washington, D.C.  

"EPR2 is kind of the stage for getting everybody together," said 
Holly Evans, director of environmental affairs at the Electronic 
Industries Alliance trade group.  

In 1998, the latest year for which figures are available, more than 20 
million PCs became obsolete in the United States alone, of which 
only 2.3 million units, or 11 percent, were recycled, according to a 
landmark study by the NSC.  

The aging equipment has the attention of researchers, bureaucrats 
and activists not only because of the volumes involved. Computers, 
monitors and other high-tech gadgets are loaded with heavy metals--
such as lead, mercury and cadmium--and plastics that could pose a 
threat to environmental and human health if they are not properly 
disposed of.  

The European Parliament is so concerned about what it calls a 
"politically pressing" issue that this year it is set to pass legislation 
that would require electronics manufacturers to take back used 
products and phase potential hazardous wastes out of their wares.  

"The states are starting to look at the issue a lot more, and I think 
it's in reaction to what's going on over in Europe," said John Minter, 
Dell's environmental affairs representative.  

"Lots of people are anxiously awaiting what's happening in Europe, 
and manufacturers are trying to get out front with recycling programs 
and things like that," said Jeremiah Baumann, environmental health 
advocate at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.  

Confronted with rising expectations that they should do something 
about aging machines, several top PC and consumer electronics 
companies have recently launched recycling and reuse programs:  

.....In October, Sony Electronics and the state of Minnesota began a 
five-year program to take back all Sony electronics and personal-
computing products, from Walkmen to Vaios, sold in the state.  

.....In November, IBM announced that, for a fee of $29.99 including 
shipping, consumers and small businesses can recycle any 
manufacturer's PC, including system units, monitors, printers and 
peripherals.  

.....In December, Dell set up its DellExchange program, which offers 
consumers three options--trade-in, sale or donation--for disposing of 
older PCs and related products, regardless of the brand.  

.....In February, the EIA unveiled a Web site that offers information 
on recycling and reuse of older electronics and urges consumers to 
oppose what it calls "misguided" legislation.  

The manufacturers' programs have drawn the attention of the 
recycling community.  

"That's huge," said Hui. "The fact that Sony and IBM are doing these 
kinds of things is only going to spur other manufacturers to follow 
suit."  

Getting to the starting line In recent weeks, leading up to the EPR2 
summit, individual PC companies and the EIA have been meeting 
with representatives from as many as 10 states to hash out where 
exactly the responsibility for costs and collection should fall as 
recycling programs get off the ground.  

Evans described the talks as a "preliminary" stage en route to a 
national dialogue on recycling of electronics. "There are a lot of 
unanswered questions about how this issue is going to be solved," 
she said.  

The electronics industry, Evans said, is looking for a market-based 
system with shared responsibility among all parties, including 
manufacturers, consumers, municipalities, retailers, trash haulers 
and recyclers.  

Many variables still need to be worked out, according to both sides. 
"Cost is the biggest one," Evans said. "The states would have to 
provide something in the way of regulatory relief."  

The states see the matter from a somewhat different perspective. "In 
broad terms, we're looking for industry to help take some 
responsibility and fund some costs for managing end-of-life 
electronics," said Brooke Nash, branch chief for municipal waste 
reduction programs in the Massachusetts Department of 
Environmental Protection.  

Still, the states are hoping to avoid the big-stick approach. "The idea 
is to negotiate something voluntary with business," Nash said.  

One possible outcome of the discussions is a pilot project of some 
three years' duration, Evans said. "We're in the initial stages of 
trying to see how this can be done."  

Evans declined to say which manufacturers are involved in the 
negotiations, but the EIA subgroup that focuses on end-of-life 
electronics includes IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq Computer, 
Sharp and Panasonic. Four states she singled out as "active" on 
this front are Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey and Connecticut.  

If a nationwide model doesn't emerge from the Washington 
meetings, progress may continue on a more piecemeal basis. Sony 
is in discussions with eight states to expand its program and hopes 
to have at least five signed up by the end of the year, according to 
Mark Small, vice president of environmental affairs at Sony.  

Minnesota, meanwhile, has held talks with Sharp, Panasonic, 
Thompson, Philips and the state of Florida and has agreed in 
principle to come up with a plan of action.  

In the United States, 45 mercury-related and 21 electronics bills 
have been introduced at the state level, with bills in Oregon and 
Arkansas proposing fees on the purchase of PCs to pay for 
recycling, according to the International Association of Electronics 
Recyclers.  

This month marks the first anniversary of a law in Massachusetts 
that bans CRT monitors from landfills, and other states are 
considering similar action.  

"I think you'll see major things happening over the next six months. 
These things are starting to gel," said the EPA's Hui.  

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