Transcript National Recycling Coalition Presentation (2002 Austin TX)

Good Point Recycling
Electronics Recycling Exports:
Domestic v. Overseas Repair
alternatives
Robin Ingenthron
President, American Retroworks Inc.
VP, ElectroniCycle Inc.
NRC Sept. 2002 – Austin, Texas
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Focus on Monitors
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USA demand 2001 - 50 Million monitors
China Demand (est.) - 50 M monitors (20%)
India Demand (est.) - 50 M monitors (25%)
These 3 countries will consume about 450
million pounds of copper to meet this demand
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USA is mostly replacement based on changing consumer preference
(not “obsolescence”). India/China are mostly first use
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Two Basic Recycling Goals
• Best possible/available
environmental management
• Least possible/available cost
The higher the
cost, the lower
the diversion
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
The lower the cost,
the higher the risk of
TAR
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Summary of Alternatives
USA
Export
Repair
declining
expanding
best revenue
best end use
expensive labor (and
sometimes lousy)
Poor consumer demand
cheap, talented repair
High consumer tolerance
OEM Hostility / parts
Recycling
expanding
expanding
best source of
new material
driven by need to
dispose, regulation
driven by demand for
non-ferrous metal
Disposal
well regulated
unregulated
relatively expensive
residues dumped on
streets and in rivers
stagnant
expanding
horrow show
snuff film
Mining
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
3 Kinds of Export
1. Unprocessed junk
2. Segregated, Demanufacured, and Graded
scrap (copper, aluminum, palladium, etc.)
3. Re-use and Repair
•
Which of these are superior to mining? How
important are they to the cost of recycling?
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Labor cost to product value
$ spent and earned per 1000 monitors
1500
1000
500
0
-500
Copper revenue
Other material
revenue
25% monitor resale
Demanufacturing
-1000
Repair Labor
-1500
Scrap handling
-2000
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
USA - Repair
• As repair declines waste management increases
• Estimated non-digital TVs destined for obsolescence: 100,000,000
• TV repair employment 1980: 100,000+ (NESDA members)
• TV repair employment 2000: 39,000 (US BLS)
• TV repair employment, projected for 2010: 19,000 (US BLS)
= fickle consumer demand
= low USA tolerance for used / cosmetically “functional”
= high cost ($22/hour) for Master Technician
= poor recruitment into the field
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Realistic Reuse Goals
Re-Use
Recycle
% of units Re-usable
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
% of weight Re-usable
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
- 2% re-use = 20% cost reduction
- diminishing returns as re-use increases
Copper revenue
Other material
revenue
monitor re-use
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
USA Recycling or Disposal Jobs / Ton
1 ton = about 50 picture tubes
source: EPA JTR Report
160
140
120
Disposal
100
Exporting
80
60
Recycling
40
20
0
Jobs /
1,000
tons
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Disposal
Exporting
Recycling
Repair
Jobs /
1,000
tons
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
USA Repair Creates Jobs
160,000
140,000
120,000
Computer
Repair
TV Repair
100,000
80,000
60,000
All Metal
Mining
40,000
20,000
0
USA Employment
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Overseas Repair - Good Practices
• Average life for all durables is more than doubled
– cars, TVs, shoes, etc. are not “disposable” until “unrepairable”
– Consumer demand / tolerance is high
• Positive revenue $5-20 per unit has strict conditions
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–
–
US Technician appraised
Make / model / year / serial / condition / country of manufacture
No screen burn, 110/220 switches, SVGA
Each individually manifested monitor may be sold/refused individually
“Fly and Buy” and self-packing is common
• Different countries have different specialties and capacity
– Singapore / Malaysia / India (where parts are made)
– Latin America (Similar NTSC, power)
– Eastern Europe (High technical skills)
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Overseas Repair - Bad Practices
• Toxics along for the ride (TAR)
– Poorly packaged, hand-packed containers
– “Buyer take all” sale conditions
– Misrepresentation of condition
• Positive revenue a blurry picture
– $ per unit v. Pennies per pound
– “Goodies along for the Ride” (GAR) cigarettes, Harleys, cars
– Tariff avoidance, dual bill of lading
• “Counterfeiting”, “grey market”, “enforced obsolescence”
– Some repairers are “too good”
– OEM influence on import rules
– Warrantees
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
A real bad sign
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Compare 4 USA electronics scrap companies
• 20 USA employees: 0% sold for repair, 100%
demanufacturing - ($.30/lb)
• 25 USA employees: 25% monitors sold for reuse/repair,
positive revenue. 75% scrapped in USA at a cost (.15/lb)
• 6 USA employees: 75% monitors shipped for scrap and
repair at $0. 25% sent to company A above - (.06/lb)
• 1 USA employee: 100% export. Generator is sent
shipping container and packing list - ($ 0)
– Where are the toxics along for the ride?
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
4 Simple Rules for Exports
• All material must be individually listed on bill of lading.
No “take it all deals”.
• Each listed item must be for positive revenue.
• US Company must have employee and plant capacity to
demanufacture non-exportables.
• Keep a list of items never to be exported (e.g. CRT
glass, gold) .
Demand to see export bill of lading or shipping manifests (with name
removed to protect proprietary market relationships).
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Alternative: End World Mining Subsidies
 Percentage of gold, copper, silver, lead ores production
from federal lands: 95%
 Projected Bureau of Land Management revenues from
mineral royalties and leases: $300,000
 Federal Employees managing mineral leases: 339
 Bureau of Land Management lease /acre: $5 (set in 1872)
 Federal share of gold/copper/silver income: $0
 Number hard-rock mines of 15 largest Superfund sites: 14
 Mining % of ALL TOXICS from ALL US INDUSTRIES: 47%
 Typical copper smelter fine: $24,000 per day
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Copper - Production and Price
Unit value
World
(98$/t) production
7,000
495,000
5,000
858,000
3,140
959,000
2,860 1,610,000
2,960 2,400,000
3,210 2,380,000
3,920 3,940,000
5,375 5,900,000
4,419 7,200,000
3,383 9,200,000
1,841 13,200,000
For the first half of the century,
“copper was king”. USA was world’s
largest producer and exporter.
As electronic/electric manufacturing
moved to Asia and Latin America,
so have copper foundries. USA exports
less copper today than in 1900.
2667%
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
Longer Term Solutions to E-Waste Recycling
• CERCLA (Superfund) Reauthorization - Funded by
taxpayers since industry funding expired in 1995, most expenses
are non-ferrous mining related.
• US Telecommunications Act - Provides billions in free
airwaves for transition to Digital TV, which will "obsolete" the
majority of TVs now in service; no responsibility for recycling
• General Mining Act of 1872 - Terms have not been amended
for 130 years.
• Federal Recycled Content Standards for Metals
• “Structured Relief” from EPA smelter fines
• Revise (1970 era) OEM Repair Support Rules
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
What about Asian Mining & Recycling?
• NO Superfund cleanup
• “Environmental Arms Race”
Philippines, Indonesia, passed
legislation modeled on 1872
General Mining Act
• Chinese mining deaths 2001:
5,000-6,000
• Amazon/African gold mining
uses elemental mercury
• Cyanide & arsenic are
byproducts of virgin copper
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
Copper as a percentage of mined
Material, after cyanide leaching: <2%
Of that copper, % “electronics grade” <10%
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500
Good Point Recycling
More Perspectives
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Www.ban.org
www.unctad.org
www.mineralpolicy.org
www.mpi.org.au
www.retroworks.com
www.electronicycle.com
PO Box 1010 Middlebury, VT 05753
www.retroworks.com
P: 802-382-8500