Economic and Financial Issues Associated with EndofLife Electronic Waste

1
Economic and Financial Issues Associated with
End-of-Life Electronic Waste

• Solid Waste Advisory Committee Meeting
• October 29, 2004

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Economic Analysis

• Todays Objective Discuss the role of economic
  analysis under ESHB 2488
• The Role of Economics
• Establish Criteria
• Review of Program Costs/Efficiency
• Financing
• Existing Infrastructure/Jobs

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Criteria to Evaluate Program Alternatives

• Full cost-benefit analysis
• -internal vs. external costs
• -efficiency
• Equity/Fairness
• -stakeholders
• -within/across generations

4
End-of-Life Options for E-Waste

• Increased concern about impacts of waste
  electronics volume/toxicity
• Worldwide approaches have varied
• Federal action
• CRTs designated as hazardous waste
• Proposed CRT Rule
• Many existing programs to evaluate
• Three broad EoL categories disposal, re-use and
  recycling

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Disposal

• CRT glass is listed as a hazardous waste under
  RCRA
• Nonresidential customers disposing of large
  quantities of monitors are subject to dangerous
  waste regulations
• Businesses that use small quantities and all
  households are exempt from RCRA requirements
• Other states have taken variable approaches
• -CA treats all CRTs as hazardous waste
• -Some treat it as universal waste
• Several local governments have banned in it
  landfills (e.g. Snohomish, King, Kitsap)
• But some are still landfilling (data from 2002)

6
Re-use

• Some machines can be re-used
• Some organizations clean-up machines and pass
  them along to schools
• Some components can be re-used
• Working monitors can be shipped overseas
• Small local market
• Large international market

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Recycling

• Recycling is a viable option
• Computer disassembly can provide raw materials
  and reduce waste
• Programs vary significantly
• Programs can be public, private or public-private
• Examples
• -Snohomish Co., Bellevue, SWICO, Maine,
  California and many others

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Recycling Program Costs

• Alternatives vary significantly in terms of
  private costs
• Landfilling as MSW is likely cheapest from
  private cost standpoint
• However, increased risk of environmental release
• If classified as hazardous waste, recycling may
  be a good business (private cost) decision
• Recycling may have environmental concerns PBDE,
  emissions

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Costs/Revenues from Recycling

• Recycling involves program development,
  administration, demanufacturing and disposal
• Costs range from 200/ton to 1,000/ton from
  publicly available information
• CPUs can be recycled at a profit
• Monitors/TVs probably not, but an export market
  exists for high end products

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Financing E-waste Programs

• Financing should
• Generate sufficient revenue
• Allocate costs
• Provide incentives
• End-of-Life fees are the typical approach
• Up-front financing
• Visible vs. invisible
• EPR
• Combined approaches

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Future Work Agenda

• Data on current E-waste management practices
• Data on other existing programs
• Evaluate alternatives for cost-effectiveness
• Consider existing collectors, sorters,
  processors, next level
• Are they adequate-If not, what?
• What will be the impact on jobs?

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Contact Information

• Dave Reich
• davr461_at_ecy.wa.gov
• [phone]