Title: Why Responsible Recycling is Good Business
1Why Responsible Recycling is Good Business
Workshop on E-waste Recycling and Refurbishing
Environmentally Sound Management
Practices Perspectives on key drivers for
implementing ESM
- Barbara Kyle
- Electronics TakeBack Coalition
Guadalajara, MexicoFebruary 1516
2Topics
- E-waste recycling challenges
- What happens when e-waste isnt managed
responsibly - Why ESM is good business for recyclers
- Recycler certification
3About the Electronics TakeBack Coalition
- Who We Are National coalition of environmental
and consumer organizations working on electronic
waste issues - What We Do We promote green design and
responsible recycling in the electronics industry - Promote state and federal legislation
- Public pressure on the industry to create and
improve TakeBack and recycling programs - Promote green purchasing guidelines and efforts
with institutional buyers - Expose problems with recyclers, such as exporting
e-waste - Promote responsible recyclers
4Electronic Waste is Toxic Waste
- Toxics in electronics
- Lead
- Mercury
- Brominated Flame Retardants
- Cadmium
- PVC
- Arsenic
5Toxics In, Toxics Out
- Toxics in e-waste can harm workers communities
- Toxics make it harder to recycle e-waste (more
expensive to do it safely) - Many recyclers choose to export e-waste to
developing countries instead of paying to manage
them safely - Processing should occur only where there is
adequate infrastructure to manage the toxics.
6Where does our e-waste go?
750 to 100 containers of e-waste arrive in Hong
Kong daily
8Guiyu, China
9(No Transcript)
10Object of the presentation
11Lagos, Nigeria
12(No Transcript)
13Accra, Ghana
14Accra, Ghana
15Key Question Who pays?
- There is always a cost for handling toxic e-waste
- Who will pay for it?
- Option 1 We externalize the costs onto the
workers and communities in developing countries
with cheap labor and weak laws
16The word is out on e-waste dumping
- Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste
- 60 Minutes Follows America's Toxic Electronic
Waste As It Is Illegally Shipped To Become
China's Dirty Secret
Ghana Digital Dumping Ground
17Key Question Who Pays?
- Option 2Customers who BUY and USE the products
pay for responsible recycling - Cost is included in the price of the product
Cost Internalization (not an added fee)
18Will the customer pay for responsible recycling?
- Producer Responsibility- The manufacturer adds
the cost of recycling into the price, and then
takes back its products when customers are done
with them.- The manufacturer recycles
RESPONSIBLY - In the U.S., and Canada, we are passing
state/provincial laws requiring producer
responsibility for e-waste (mostly for consumer
products)
19Manufacturers want responsible recycling
20- Samsung We've partnered directly with respected
take-back and recycling companies that do not
incinerate, send to solid waste landfill, or
export toxic waste (defined in a manner
consistent with the commonly accepted definition
of hazardous electronic waste) to developing
countries. Link - SONY Sony will continue to conduct electronics
recycling programs transparently and in accord
with rigorous environmental and worker safety
standards. Additionally, we will adhere to
measures to prevent the export of hazardous
e-waste to developing countries and support the
development of federal legislation to ban the
illegal export of hazardous electronic waste to
developing nations. Link - Apple Nothing is shipped overseas for recycling
or disposal. Our recyclers must comply with all
applicable health and safety laws, and Apple does
not allow the use of prison labor at any stage of
the recycling process. Nor do we allow the
disposal of hazardous electronic waste in
solid-waste landfills or incinerators. Link
21Corporate customers want responsible recycling
- In the U.S., corporations are increasingly
concerned about what happens to their old
electronics - Legal liability and privacy concerns about data
on hard drives - Concerns about their old products causing harm in
communities around the globe - Corporations require ESM language in contracts
with recyclers
22Voluntary Standards and ESM
- Why voluntary recycling standards and
certification? - Standards cover areas ignored by the laws such
as worker protections, export (in USA) - Certification to high standards makes it easy for
customers to know a recycler is following ESM
practices - Certification shows compliance with laws
(especially where enforcement is not strong) - Certification is a visible label (not just legal
compliance)
23Certifications Show Green Matters
- Certified Fair Trade in 2007 topped 2.5 billion
in sales, providing wide benefits to more than 1
million farm families growing at 40 per year. - FSC-certified forests now top 300 million acres
worldwide, more than 10 of the worlds working
forests, growing at 25 per year - MSC-certified fisheries now cover 70 of
ocean-caught salmon (not farmed!) and 26 of
whitefish, more requests for fishery
certification than they can handle driven by
Wal-Mart McDonalds, among others
24Only credible certification is 3rd party,
independent, with explicit social and
environmental NGO support.- Michael Conroy,
expert on certifications
The type of certification matters
25E-Stewards Certification Program
- Highest standard in the industry
- Compliant with Basel Convention and Basel Ban
Amendment - All facilities must be certified
26Features of e-Steward Certification
- Currently available in 41 countries (EU, OECD,
EFTA) countries - Requires and incorporates ISO 14001
- Utilizes Accredited 3rd Party Certifying Bodies
to Conduct Audits - Comprehensive data security, occupational
exposure, downstream due diligence, reuse, etc.
27Companies committed to using certified e-Stewards
- E-Stewards Enterprise companies
28How was the e-Stewards Standard developed?
- The e-Stewards Standard is the result of
collaboration between - The environmental community
- Electronics recyclers
- Auditors
- Occupational health experts
- Information security experts
- The accredited certification industry
29Summary
- Customers are demanding responsible recycling,
even if the laws are not- Corporations-
Manufacturers, who are taking back their
products- Consumers bringing back their old
products - Media is exposing e-waste export problems
- Expect more regulation, enforcement of
regulations - Certification is the proof that customers want to
see
30Contact
- Electronics TakeBack Coalition
- www.electronicstakeback.com
- Barbara Kyle
- bkyle_at_etakeback.org
- e-Stewards
- www.e-stewards.org