eWaste Recycling Dilemma

Congratulations, you’ve just purchased a new phone, flat screen TV or computer that replaces one that is ailing, slow or lacks the latest features. What happens now with the old equipment? Unfortunately, all too often it ends up in the local landfill instead of contributing to sustainable design.

I’m David Laing, LEED AP, the Environmental Consultant partner of Dayle Laing. Each year an estimated 50 million tons of e-waste (computers, TVs, cell phones and other discarded electronic items) are produced. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, over 80% of that material ends up in municipal garbage dumps. It is a huge problem because computers and monitors contain some very nasty substances including: lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants. Up to 60 elements can be found in complex electronics, and it has been estimated that 70% of the heavy metals in US landfills comes from discarded electronics. Surely there must be a more economically and environmentally friendly solution for disposing of e-waste; and there is. All we need do is take advantage of it.

Recently, Dayle and I had the privilege of participating in a tour of 2 electronic recycling plants in Brampton & Mississauga, Ontario organized by Brad Zarnett of the Toronto Sustainability Speakers Series. The plants, operated by SIMS Recycling Solutions cover 85,000 and 290,000 square feet respectively and currently process 30 million pounds of electronic waste annually. SIMS Metal Management, the parent company is the largest electronics recycler in the world and these two local facilities handle recycling from Canada and the Northeast US. Half the recycled material comes from commercial equipment while the other half comes from consumer products.

I worked in the computer industry for many years and have had the opportunity to tour computer manufacturing plants. I have been impressed by the high technology automation, ingenuity and complexity that is employed to manufacture computer components. I can tell you from visiting the SIMS plant that it also takes a lot of high technology to pull those components apart; along with a bit of finesse and a fair amount of brute force.

The SIMS plants use a combination of

manual labour along with in-house designed, state of the art automated technologies to dismantle, shred and separate the electronics into its various components. Plastics pulled off here, non-leaded glass diverted over there, metals, silicon, rare earth minerals - everything, including the copper wire and its plastic insulation is separated into up to 30 different material streams. 99% of the original weight is recaptured in a form that is then sold to downstream recyclers providing raw material for the next generation of electronics equipment.

The plants are each ISO 14001 certified for the highest environmental standards of both safety and security. Dust in the plant contains heavy metals and is therefore filtered through one of 12 ‘bag houses’ that remove all particulate matter before the air is released back into the plant. Every person in the plant, including visitors are required to wash their hands to prevent the escape of particulate matter outside the plant. The danger of fire exists in the shredders, so a dozen remote controlled cameras are used to monitor various points for spark, flame and jams.

SIMS recycles computer equipment that may contain highly sensitive information. Organizations want proof that their equipment and its data have been destroyed securely. Bar-code scanners and cameras track each skid of material from plant entry to shredder exit, in bite sized pieces.

Who says the economy and the environment are mutually exclusive? SIMS has created 30 new green jobs in an area of the country that has seen manufacturing employment dry up over the past 2 years. There is capacity to create 200 new green jobs. 15% of these jobs are considered to be highly skilled.

The SIMS facility is designed to operate 3 shifts per day, 7 days a week. Yet today the plant only has enough electronic material to support one shift.  Herein lies the travesty.  A state of the art facility with the capability to safely recycle vast quantities of e-waste sits with 2/3rds excess capacity while electronic waste continues to pile up in landfills. Economics, politics and human nature contribute to this situation.

Unlike paper, glass and can recycling programs that have the potential to generate positive cash flows for municipalities, the revenue from raw materials recovered from recycled electronics covers only about 15% of actual recycling cost. Understandably tax payers balk at picking up the other 85% so publicly funded e-waste recycling programs are rare.

Some manufacturers offer to recycle out-dated products as a trade-up incentive for a small fee. But these programs are far from universal and, faced with the prospect of paying someone to take garbage when it can be put out to the street for ‘free’, guess where human nature drives the majority of consumer decisions? You guessed it; the landfill wins.

McDonough & Braungart in their book “Cradle to Cradle” said that we should “design with the end in mind”. When corporations are faced with a market-driven challenge, they find a way to create the technology, expertise, money and resources necessary to meet that challenge. But it takes Government vision (and legislation) to balance those market forces and support long term global environmental interests along with shorter-term shareholder returns.

Cindy Coutts SIMS

Of course fees paid by the suppliers are ultimately recouped from the consumer in the form of higher retail prices. These ‘Eco-fees’ typically amount to less than 2% of the retail selling price, yet most suppliers and retailers choose to show them separately at time of check out.  As a result consumers see these fees more as a tax than as a cost which responsible suppliers should bear as part of their products’ ‘total life-cycle’. So it is not surprising that only the most courageous and best organized jurisdictions have made headway in this area.

You can do your part by supporting governments who encourage the implementation of these electronic stewardship programs and by helping explain the beneficial purpose that these eco-fees perform in keeping our environment healthy.  And, when disposing of that old PC or phone, make the choice to have it recycled rather than dumped.

By David Laing, B.A.Sc., LEED Accredited Professional

Your comments or questions are appreciated.