AIIAs environment program

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AIIA Presentation MAY 2008
AIIAs environment program e-waste collection
and recycling
ICT Environmental Sustainability
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ICT environmental sustainability key focus
areas for AIIA and members

• Product stewardship
• smart product design developing a life-cycle
  approach and considering end-of-life requirements
• equipment energy efficiency regulations and
  compliance standards
• waste management collection, reuse, and
  recycling

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Waste management background

• AIIA has tabled a number of options for industry
  recycling schemes to the EPHC since 2005
• Advanced recycling certificate and guarantee
  utilising the retail point of sale
• a waste levy to pay for all waste regardless of
  brand and other variations on disposal fee at
  local council and through taxation (a Planet Ark
  and AIIA joint-proposal)
• Import registry to pay for waste as it comes in

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ICT product stewardship status

• An industry initiative to design a viable
  computer equipment collection and recycling
  program for Australian consumers is currently
  being supported by ten global companies
• Apple, Canon, Dell, Epson, Fujitsu, Fuji-Xerox,
  HP, IBM, Lenovo, Lexmark.

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Current proposal ByteBack

• Byteback is based on the willingness of the 10
  participating brands to pay for the recycling of
  their own brands historic and prospective waste
• Life cycle partnership addressing end-of-life IT
  equipment, focusing on household and SME waste.
• Provides a testing model for industry to assist
  in developing solutions.
• Byteback is a joint initiative between
  responsible manufacturers, AIIA and
  Sustainability Victoria.

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What is Byteback?

• Byteback is a free service, available to
  residents and small business owners in Victoria
  to dispose of end-of-life computers in a
  environmentally responsible way.
• It is a voluntary trial which will run for a
  defined period (18 months to December 2008).
• The trial also aims to recruit other industry
  participants into the program.

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Byteback objectives

• Obtain knowledge of the e-waste stream
• Provide measurable outcomes in terms of costs and
  operations
• Demonstrate industry leadership in priority waste
  area (and increase shared responsibility).
• Trial an end-to-end e-waste recycling scheme to
  identify the challenges of a national scheme
• Recover valuable resources
• Carbon abatement

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Byteback user feedback

• High level of interest from the community
• Users typically became aware through
• contacting Councils,
• local papers
• word-of-mouth.
• 56 of respondents not prepared to pay / 38 up
  to 5
• per item.
• 68 of users motivated to do the right thing.
• 78 of respondents would have otherwise used
  hardwaste / bin for disposal.

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AIIA list of key priorities

• First priority to encourage non-participating
  brands to join Byteback.
• Second priority to get government at all levels
  to be actively selecting sustainable suppliers of
  ICT equipment.

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AIIA list of key priorities

• Third priority the establishment of a fair and
  equitable legislative framework to ensure no free
  riders and that orphan and historic waste from
  whitebox are disposed of in an environmentally
  responsible manner.
• Fourth priority industry to work with government
  and other stakeholders to take the findings from
  Byteback and develop a sustainable, fair and
  equitable national scheme in Australia.

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Summary of a national industry scheme

• Each manufacturer responsible for own products
• User pays (included in product cost)
• Registration at point of import (narrowest point
  and addresses everybody) - 100 companies
  responsible for 90 of imports
• Scaleable for national coverage, can co-exist
  with other take-back schemes

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Summary of a national industry scheme

• The keys to long term viability
• a call for a National Register of participants
• use of Customs data to monitor participation
• product stewardship agreements
• strong legislative enforcement
• an up-front charge on importers to cover waste
  from whitebox products
• policy framework established to facilitate
  engagement with other stakeholders

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Policy Framework (stakeholder engagement)