Transcript Waste Electronics: A Growing Problem

Waste Electronics:
A Growing Problem
Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board
presentation to the
Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee
of the
Association of Minnesota Counties
September 18, 2003
What’s the Problem?

TVs and Computer Monitors Contain Cathode Ray
Tubes (CRTs)

CRTs are the largest source of lead in Minnesota’s
garbage
Backlog of e-waste
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Growing Waste Stream
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TVs = > 3.5 million in MN homes
Computer Monitors => 2 million in MN homes and businesses
500,000 TVs sold in MN annually
400,000 – 500,000 computer monitors sold annually
Few disposal options available to residents
What’s a Cathode Ray Tube?

A vacuum tube in which images are
produced when an electron beam strikes a
phosphorescent surface

German scientist Karl Braun originally
developed the CRT in 1897

Requires lead to shield users from X-rays
The Insides of a CRT
Why is the lead in CRTs a
problem?
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Lead is in the phosphorescent coating of the
tube - fused between 2 pieces of glass, so an
unbroken CRT is relatively safe
But crushing CRT glass releases solid lead into
the environment
Lead in the funnel and face plate glass - does
not leach readily
Lead in the “frit” which joins the face plate glass
to the funnel glass leaches readily when
subjected to TCLP test
How should CRTs be managed?
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Should NOT be landfilled
Should NOT be sent to Waste-to-Energy
Facilities
Should be recycled

Component parts of CRTs can be recycled:
glass, lead, other materials
Where are Waste Electronic
Products Going Now?

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Lot’s of old TVs and computers stored in homes
(check your basement!)
Current Under-developed “System”
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Privately-Operated Collection Facilities - limited
Government Sponsored (Metro) - limited
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Manufacturer-Sponsored Programs - limited
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Hennepin County and Minneapolis
County and Municipal Event Collections
Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, IBM, Dell, Gateway
Also - illegal dumping and abandoned warehouses
It’s Costly to Recycle End-of-life
Electronics Today
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Separate collection, or
drop off
Labor-intensive
disassembly required
Shipment of components
to other parts of the
country for recycling
Proposed Solution:
Shared Responsibility
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Trend: Rapid technological advances =>
more electronic waste
Trend: Less governmental involvement
and governmental funding
Common Sense Solution: Shared
responsibility with manufacturers,
consumers, and government
Legislative Product Stewardship
Efforts
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Minnesota
National
Other Countries
Minnesota CRT Prohibition

2003 Session: Prohibition passes
Effective July 1, 2005, a person may not
place in mixed municipal solid waste an
electronic product containing a cathoderay tube.
Product Stewardship:
State Initiatives

24 States have
introduced legislation

States with Bans

Massachusetts
California
Maine

Minnesota!
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National Initiative
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National Electronic Product Stewardship
Initiative (NEPSI)

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Officially launched in June 2001
Purpose: Seek industry participation in the collection,
transportation, and recycling of waste electronics
Minnesota has 2 representatives participating in
NEPSI:
 Sherry Enzler, representing the Mn OEA
 Commissioner Jim Kordiak, representing the
SWMCB
Why not wait for a national
solution?
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Best case scenario
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Voluntary agreement through NEPSI by end of 2003
Will likely require Federal legislation to implement
2 years to get legislation; 2 years to start-up
May be in place by 2008?
Other Countries Pursuing Product
Stewardship
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Japan
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European Union
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First major economy to adopt regulations mandating the recycling of
discarded electronic products (effective in 2001)
Consumers pay the direct costs of transporting and recycling at the
point of recycling; manufacturers provide hauling and recycling facilities
European Parliament passed legislation that will require manufacturers
to take back their electronic products when consumers discard them
(effective in 2006)
Requires producers to bear the cost of collecting and recycling their
discarded electronic products from citizens.
Mandates a timetable for phasing out most toxic substances in
electronic products
Canada
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Pending provincial legislation
Voluntary industry group underway
Local Government, on the front
lines, can’t wait until 2008!
Growing Threat of Illegal
Disposal…
Demand for recycling
solutions is growing….
Do citizens want recycling options?
If you offer, they will come…
Tons
Hennepin County Consumer Electronics Program History
1400
$1,400,000
1200
$1,200,000
1000
$1,000,000
800
600
Mpls
curbside
began
$800,000
Tons
$600,000
Cost
400
$400,000
200
$200,000
0
$0
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Not Just a Metro Problem...
E-waste Collected in
Duluth, Mn
E-waste ending up in China
Proposed Language For Resolutions
and Legislative Platforms
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[agency / organization] supports legislation
regarding management of cathode ray tubes
(CRTs) that incorporates manufacturer
responsibility, reliable and convenient collection
options, responsible recycling of CRTs, a
mechanism to address the backlog of CRTs, and
a preference for advance recycling fees without
relying on local government for management of
CRTs, effective July 1, 2005.