E-waste News Roundup for 2009 Gives Hope for Improvements in 2010

A new year beacons with hope for a better future. As we in the e-waste management industry look back at 2009, we can still see many significant issues and news stories that have influenced business and will continue to have an impact on us in 2010 and beyond.

In an effort to put things in perspective, I’ve assembled the top e-waste news stories of 2009, organized according to the issues that had the most impact or aroused the most controversy in the mainstream and industry news media. From this collection of highlights, a clear view of where the industry begins 2010 can be seen.

Sustainable Computing Assessment

The year kicked off with Redemtech introducing a free online Sustainable Computing Assessment tool  designed to help companies measure how their Green IT policies relate to best practices for saving money while reducing environmental impact. Redemtech's Sustainable Computing Assessment tool was devised to enable companies to assess the effectiveness of their current strategies and identify areas for improvements.
Initial results reported in April from the Assessment, which benchmarks organizations against sustainable best practices in productivity, reuse, accountability, energy and environmental social responsibility, indicated that most companies lack holistic policies for promoting all four cornerstones of sustainable computing: extended lifecycles, energy efficiency, utilization and reuse, and responsible recycling. Even companies with coherent policies were found to lack the governance needed to ensure that operations are aligned with the sustainability priorities of the business, according to Assessment findings.

Overseas Dumping

One of the worst aspects of the global e-waste crisis is overseas dumping, which continued to be evident during 2009. In January, Jim Puckett, founder of Basel Action Network (BAN), told Time magazine that many electronics recyclers ship American e-waste abroad, where it is stripped and burned with little concern for environmental or human health, while U.S. authorities rarely stop the export of potentially hazardous e-waste. BAN assembled a list of e-Stewards consisting of accredited U.S. recyclers like Redemtech that refuse to export e-waste, and oppose incineration, landfilling and prison labor use.
From January to December, the impact of overseas dumping was felt in countries around the world, from Ghana and Nigeria to China and India. Numerous stories this year illustrated the plight of the people who live at the receiving end of the e-waste stream, making a meager living by pursuing scrap metal hidden in discarded electronics. Workers toil at various levels of the e-waste processing trade: dismantling obsolete electronics using primitive tools without protective gear.
In March, the amount of discarded electronics imported to India was found to be growing by 10% annually, with 95% of that total headed toward poor urban areas for disassembly, according to a study by India's Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Research by a group of organizations that included the Global Digital Solidarity Fund and the Swiss Institute for Material Science also reported that the amount of e-waste in Africa will soon double or triple.
BAN called on computer manufacturers, retailers and consumers in June to make a commitment to never allow their e-waste to go to electronics recyclers that will export it to developing countries. BAN asked all businesses to use only e-Steward-qualified recyclers, a group of industry leaders such as Redemtech that will not allow e-waste to be exported. BAN Executive Director Jim Puckett said at the time: "We have excellent U.S. recyclers and refurbishers here that are sick and tired of losing business to the dumpers. They can do this important job in an environmentally sound and ethical way without pushing costs and harm on to the backs of the children in Africa and Asia."
Also in June, Gartner Research warned that developing countries were at risk of becoming a dumping ground for e-waste unless effective controls are put in place to stop Western countries from exporting e-waste.

E-waste Violation Enforcement

Efforts to catch and punish e-waste law violators on both sides of the Atlantic were evident this year, beginning in February when the UK Environment Agency announced an arrest related to a crackdown on the illegal export of e-waste from the UK to the developing world. E-waste had been high on the news media agenda following reports of a joint investigation between The Independent, Sky News and Greenpeace that revealed 23,000 tons of computers are being dumped illegally in Africa every year from the UK, in violation of the European Union Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. The Environment Agency said it was increasing its efforts to intercept e-waste as it leaves Britain and had prevented export of 33 cargo containers of electrical goods in the previous six months.
In May, electronics recycler EarthEcycle was accused by BAN of illegally exporting obsolete electronics to Asia and Africa. BAN said it tracked truckloads of computers and other equipment collected by EarthEcycle at two March charity collection events in Pennsylvania that were transferred to seven 40-foot containers bound for Hong Kong and South Africa. In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed an administrative complaint and compliance order against EarthEcycle, saying the company violated at least seven hazardous waste management regulations.
A San Francisco TV station's investigation of a loophole in California's e-waste recycling laws in July prompted enforcement action in Arizona. After KPIX CBS 5 aired a news story in May about California's strict recycling rules sending the state's e-waste across state borders, Arizona's Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) said it found that storage of leaded glass from computer monitors and TVs violated state and federal environmental regulations. Dlubak Glass Company, a glass recycling plant in Yuma, Ariz., was cited in August by ADEQ for five violations in connection to the improper storage and handling of e-waste.
The U.S. EPA in July ordered SM Metals of Lakewood, Wash., and Ziliang Zhu, owner of Texas-based W and E International Trading Co., to properly dispose of e-waste consisting of 500 computer monitors that the two companies exported to Hong Kong in April. In December, the companies were fined $21,650 by the EPA.
Also in July, the UK Environment Agency fined All Metal Recovery Ltd., a UK recycling company, £22,000 for illegally exporting hazardous waste cables to China in 2007.
In August, the U.S. EPA levied a $199,900 fine against Supreme Asset Management and Recovery of Lakewood, N.J., for illegally exporting non-working computer monitors to Hong Kong in 2007 and 2008.
ZKW Trading, a Monterey Park, Calif. recycler, was caught by the U.S. EPA in September trying to send 32,000 pounds of hazardous e-waste to China. ZKW Trading attempted to ship two 40-foot containers filled with cathode ray tubes (CRTs) labeled as plastic scrap to Hong Kong, the EPA said.

E-waste Legislation

A representative of the Information Technology Industry Council, a trade group representing electronics producers, first complained in April that e-waste legislation supporting manufacturer takeback programs loads extra costs on OEMS and could result in job cuts. The complaint also accused recyclers of taking advantage of OEMs, which was surprising to those in the recycling industry because OEMs have traditionally put undue financial pressures on their outsourcers, all but forcing export. This, in turn, has positioned legitimate recyclers like Redemtech at a competitive disadvantage.
In May, Indiana passed an electronics recycling law, requiring electronics manufacturers to pay for the collection and recycling of their old products.
The largest manufacturer group involved in Oregon's state-mandated e-waste recycling program warned collectors in May that it would not pay if they participate in off-site recycling events hosted by groups such as churches or neighborhood associations. Less than five months after the program was launched, Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Management Company reportedly told collectors that the e-waste effort was collecting too much e-waste too fast. Industry observers said the manufacturers knew that collections were likely to exceed the state minimums, so as the economic crisis deepened, low demand for electronics drove down the price the manufacturers can get for recyclables. Barbara Kyle of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition said the company's actions indicate manufacturers "don't want to encourage people to bring their products back."
In November, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson of California introduced legislation to the U.S. Congress to require the federal government body to responsibly recycle its e-waste. Co-authored by U.S. Reps. Gene Green of Texas, and Mary Bono Mack and Brian Bilbray of California, House Resolution 938 aims to make sure that the outdated electronic equipment discarded by members of Congress and their staffs is recycled, and not landfilled or incinerated. The bill would require Congress to deal with its e-waste using only recyclers certified to the new e-Stewards standard, the highest in the industry.

Legal Issues

Electronics manufacturers this year began fighting new state laws requiring that they pay for electronic recycling takeback programs for consumers. Five manufacturers filed suit against Washington's e-waste law in July, which requires manufacturers to fund recycling and collection services for end-of-lifecycle computers, monitors and TVs.
Also in July, a lawsuit jointly filed by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) in U.S. District Court in Manhattan challenged numerous aspects of New York City's new electronics recycling law. The suit alleges that the pick-up requirement of the law would be overly burdensome to computer equipment manufacturers.
By November, government representatives from 18 states had signed a letter organized by the Electronics Takeback Coalition asking the electronics industry to withdraw its lawsuit against New York City's e-waste recycling law.
In addition, legitimate electronics recyclers and watchdog groups this year said it had become too easy for unscrupulous businesses to circumvent the U.S. EPA's regulation regarding the export of computer monitors that contain hazardous materials.

Lack of E-waste Awareness

While progress continues to be made toward increasing e-waste awareness in business and industry, U.S. businesses still are not yet doing enough to introduce environmental sustainability efforts, and e-waste is one area in particular where little progress has been made, according to a February report from Greener World Media. Unscrupulous "recyclers" continue to ship e-waste overseas where it becomes an environmental and health burden to the indigent workers tasked with disassembling electronics.
A survey released in March by Osterman Research found that about 15% of IT managers say their company disposes of e-waste in dumpsters. Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research, said: "A pure focus on being green may actually create security vulnerabilities as tons of computers are offloaded to recyclers that may be limited in chain-of-custody reporting, remarketing channels and redeployment options needed for enterprise level IT asset disposition."
A report from BAN and the Electronics Takeback Coalition in May highlighted the many issues and pitfalls of U.S. e-waste management and revealed how many e-waste collection projects, no matter how green the intent, can end up being part of the problem. According to Barbara Kyle, ETBC national coordinator, free e-waste collection drives have become fairly common, but people usually have no idea where the electronics go after they are collected. Sarah Westervelt, e-waste project coordinator for BAN, concurred, noting that many well-meaning businesses and consumers are being duped by unscrupulous recyclers. Westervelt offered pointers on finding a responsible electronics recycler, such as choosing tried-and-true e-cyclers like those included on a list of certified e-Stewarts maintained by BAN.

Recycling Instead of Landfilling

Businesses that face the options of recycling their end-of-lifecycle electronics equipment or dumping it in a landfill where it may still be legal to do so, can be assured the hazardous materials used to manufacture that equipment will be handled in the most appropriate way possible if they choose recycling by a reputable recycler, experts said in April. When electronics are landfilled, options to refurbish and expand the lifespan of equipment or recycle the materials are overlooked, and toxic materials instead leach into the environment.
More than three-fourths of respondents to a Pike Research survey in November said they believe that recycling is the most appropriate way to handle obsolete electronics. According to the survey, 14% of respondents said the cost of electronics recycling should be borne by consumers at the points of purchase or recycling, while 10% supported the concept of "producer responsibility" where the manufacturer pays for the toxic electronics they've been manufacturing for years.

Prison Labor

Redemtech opposes the use of prison labor for the disassembly of computers and other electronics, and in 2009, it became apparent that perhaps the tide is turning.
In April, Barbara Kyle of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition criticized "low road" recycling practices of companies that utilize prison labor for dismantling end-of-lifecycle computers and other electronics containing toxic chemicals. Noting how federal prisoners in Texas volunteer for the duty because it pays well above the standard wage for an inmate, Kyle added that prisoners don't have the same worker's rights as a free employed person and are exposed to dangerous chemicals while working in prison computer recycling programs.
Later in the year, plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the Federal Correction Institute in Marianna, Fla., claimed in August that the prison's computer and electronics recycling program is toxic and hazardous to workers' health.
Federal Prison Industries Inc., also known as UNICOR, a U.S. government-owned company, reported plans in July to close a factory at the Federal Correctional Complex in Marianna, where female inmates recycle old computer equipment, due to poor economic performance. Federal Prison Industries said at the time it was shutting down factory operations at 14 prisons and downsizing operations at four other facilities.

Environmental Sustainability

Businesses must become accustomed to viewing environmental issues the same way they view other critical business issues, experts said in February, and the time has come for businesses to also start measuring environmental performance in terms of competitive standing, legal compliance and other areas that have real business consequences. Businesses that have an organized approach to green sustainability will be better able to recognize important changes early, adopting and even profiting from new opportunities, the experts said.
Running a deeply efficient and non-wasteful IT operation is much more complex than simply being "green" or "not green,” it was reported in March. The starting point in becoming greener is cleaning up an inefficient array of hardware and recycling old equipment effectively, experts said. Many companies are discussing how to become less wasteful, but the effort takes on new importance when combining the concept of getting greener with a way to speed up a return on investment for upgrading equipment.
Despite what many companies think - that reducing their environmental impact is a nice idea, but impractical because of the cost - businesses can go green and lower costs at the same time, industry experts said in March. Green practices like recycling, refurbishing and reusing electronic equipment, and reducing waste, can cut costs because the efforts make a company more efficient.
Predictions in April that environmental sustainability would remain an important agenda item for businesses in 2009 proved true. Gartner analysts said in a study that worldwide, companies reported that they are assigning more than 15% of IT capital budgets to green IT projects.
In September, it was found that Corporate America's embrace of sustainability has more than doubled in strength during the past three years with 76% of the largest U.S. firms reporting efforts and commitments that exceed those required by law, according to a new study.

Digital Conversion

One of the greatest worries to environmentalists early in 2009 was the U.S. government-mandated digital conversion. Despite a postponement, the conversation took place, arousing fears that consumers would buy new televisions and dump their old models in landfills.
Environmental groups in June warned that there are not enough resources to deal with the obsolete equipment that U.S. consumers offloaded following the nation's conversion to digital television. The Electronics TakeBack Coalition said that too few TV manufacturers have programs to recycle electronics, and that many of the ones that exist are inadequate.
The U.S. EPA estimated that there are almost 100 million old TVs in storage across the nation and the volume of e-waste is expected to increase substantially during the next few years as consumers turn to newer TVs.

Energy Issues

Energy issues continued to be important in 2009 in tandem with e-waste concerns. It was reported in March that U.S. organizations annually squander $2.8 billion to power unused computers, emitting about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to the 2009 PC Energy Report, produced by the non-profit Alliance to Save Energy and 1E. About half of 108 million office PCs in the U.S. are not properly shut down at night.
A study released in May by the International Energy Agency (IEA) determined that portable electronic devices are contributing to a significant global energy drain and greenhouse gas emissions. The global analysis of electronic equipment electricity consumption of laptops, mobile phones and other devices found that the number of external power supplies that are associated with many electronic devices is more than 5.5 billion and could double by 2022 and triple by 2030.

Other Stories of Interest

Other stories of interest in 2009 were related to television viewing. The CBS news program 60 Minutes in August aired a hard-hitting segment titled The Electronic Wasteland about the toxic e-waste trade between the U.S. and China. The segment originally was broadcast in 2008, but garnered the attention of many businesses that were previously unaware of the e-waste crisis. The segment uncovered how unscrupulous "recyclers" dump e-waste overseas, where indigent workers, including children, disassemble computers for salvageable materials.
In October, the same CBS network aired entertainment programming that seemed to be oblivious to the e-waste awareness generated by the 60 minutes segment. Contestants on the reality TV series Amazing Race participated in a challenge in Vietnam during which they disassembled electronic devices with their bare hands and primitive tools. While this may seem to make an interesting game show challenge, it represented all that is wrong with the way e-waste is handled today and a complete lack of awareness by the show's producers to the plight of developing nations where unscrupulous businesses posing as electronics recyclers dump electronics from Western countries like the U.S.

Looking Toward 2010

E-waste poses a large and growing problem around the world, and represents the fastest growing portion of the municipal waste stream in the U.S. As e-waste recycling is subject to almost no oversight, 80% of e-waste is exported to developing countries, according to industry experts. There, as we’ve noted countless times before in this blog and other Redemtech news conduits, indigent people extract scrap metal, circuit boards and other resalable materials without adequate protective material, exposing themselves to hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium.
On the bright side, many companies have taken the e-Stewards Pledge to recycle electronics in a way that's friendlier to people and the environment. Soon, the e-Stewards Pledge will become e-Stewards Certification; an accredited, third-party certification program for e-waste recycling that is slated to begin in March 2010. Redemtech is proud to be on the leading edge of this certification and the call for better e-waste management around the world.