New federal e-scrap policy announced

Euro and American electronics waste in Ghana, Africa

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans generate 2.5 million tons of used electronics annually, contributing to a massive consumer waste ‘bank’ of precious metals, rare earths, plastics, and glass. The U.S. also continues to be the world’s leader in designing and developing new and improved electronic technologies, including computers, cell phones, and portable communication and music devices. Yet currently, the U.S., as well as much of Europe, are guilty of exporting much of this waste to underdeveloped countries, where electronics recycling regulations and fair worker rights are in desperate need of reform. The Obama Administration sees responsible management of electronics as an opportunity to create a domestic market for electronics recycling, to create jobs and prevent pollution at home and abroad.

Last month, the EPA joined the General Services Administration (GSA), the White House General Council, and the CEOs of Dell, Sprint, and Sony to unveil the National Electronics Stewardship Guidelines, addressing electronics recycling as a market for job growth. The new strategies are based on recommendations made by the Obama Administration’s Federal Electronics Stewardship Working Group, in conjunction with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and e-scrap processors, that have been in development since last year.

The Feds will focus on four major areas under the new policy. Given that the GSA not only represents our tax dollars in action, but is also the largest single consumer of electronics equipment, we are excited to see how the following key strategies will impact consumer procurement guidelines in general.

In the first strategy, the GSA will promote the development of more efficient and sustainable electronics products by removing products from its purchasing contracts that do not meet Energy Star and Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) requirements, and/or ones that are not designed for recycling. Part of the new strategy includes a landfill ban for all federal IT equipment, directing GSA to use certified electronics processors and manufacturer take-back programs for all non-functional equipment disposal.

Next, GSA will promote recycling options and systems for American consumers, by directing federal agencies to buy, use, reuse and recycle their electronics responsibly, thus wielding the Fed’s enormous purchasing power to trickle down to the average consumer. Dell, Sprint, and Sony were all on board with providing recycling options for used equipment within the consumer space. The participation of OEMs and retailers is critical for successful electronics recycling, and the new policy encourages manufacturers to adopt similar environmental and efficiency guidelines for their consumer products, to those used by the GSA.

The third strategy involves government support of research directed towards improved electronics product design and recycling. Growing concerns over rare earth metal supplies, particularly in the U.S., are the primary impetus for developing new reclamation technologies. Under the new policy, grants and design competitions aimed at improved domestic electronics recycling infrastructure will be able to seek government support.

The final and possibly most exciting strategy involves the U.S. role in international electronics stewardship. In the meeting last month, the Obama Administration called for ratification of the Basel Convention, advocating for tighter control of the international movement of electronic scrap. The proposed policy also lends official support to third-party certifications and electronics recycling programs, and calls for regulatory changes to improve compliance with the California Toxics Rule (CTR) and other export regulations.

We spoke with James Kao, founder and CEO of the San Francisco Bay Area’s GreenCitizen, to get an expert opinion on the new policy initiatives. Kao is a founding member of E-Stewards, the third-party certification designed to monitor and drive standards throughout the electronics recycling chain. Kao has been instrumental with the development of domestic electronics recycling policy, and says, ‘It’s all about how you take it <used electronics> apart;' noting that in the past, ‘we have been trusting that the company does the right thing.’ With new, government backed policy, Kao anticipates that we will see a lot more restrictions and recycling components, as well as consumer reports aimed at rating the recyclability of a product, not just its performance during use. Kao also notes that this is a tremendous opportunity for electronics manufacturers to step up and become leaders in their own take back programs.

We also see this as an opportunity for fortune 500 companies to follow the lead of GSA's new procurement guidelines, and influence environmental stewardship in electronics recycling across the board.

national_strategy_electronics_stewardship_2011.pdf