Jan. 29, 2008, marked the one-year anniversary of the United States’ Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Rule, which is intended to encourage recycling and reuse of CRTs and CRT glass by making it easier to recycle CRTs than if they had to be handled as hazardous waste.
The rule requires that recyclers notify EPA headquarters in Washington when they plan to export used and broken CRTs. EPA will then notify the receiving country of the shipment. However, if the CRTs are intact and destined for reuse, the recycler must send a one-time notification to EPA before exportation. In this case, there is no requirement to notify the receiving country. According to the rule, the exporter must keep copies of its records of these exports for three years.
Persons and businesses failing to meet one or more of the conditions of the CRT Rule may be subject to enforcement action under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
The CRT Rule also covers recycling in the United States. In many cases, the recycler will disassemble CRTs for their glass, lead or plastic components. The rule exempts CRTs from all hazardous waste requirements if the recycler complies with certain conditions for packaging, labeling and storage.
The rule does not affect households or non-residential generators of less than 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of hazardous waste in a calendar month.
The CRT Rule can be found in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR Part 261 and can be viewed at www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WASTE/2006/July/Day-28/f6490.htm.
Intechra Closes Arizona PlantsIntechra LLC, headquartered in Jackson, Miss., has announced that it is closing two of its Arizona facilities and moving the equipment and business to Intechra facilities in Dallas, and Columbus, Ohio.
The facilities to be closed are in Phoenix and Casa Grande, Ariz.
The electronics recycling equipment Intechra used at the Casa Grande facility will be relocated to Intechra’s Columbus plant, while equipment from the Phoenix IT disposition operation will move to the company’s Dallas location.
The Dallas and Columbus facilities are the two largest facilities in Intechra’s network, with the Columbus plant measuring 276,000 square feet, and the Dallas facility measuring roughly 153,000 square feet.
Reclamere Receives NAID RecertificationReclamere, Tyrone, Pa., has completed the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) recertification process for the physical destruction of computer hard drives.
Reclamere’s recertification required that the company subject itself to an annual security audit and occasional surprise security audits in the future.
"This recertification is another step that Reclamere has taken to remain the national leader in secure IT Asset Management," Angie Singer Keating, Reclamere vice president of compliance and security, says.
WeRecycle! Announces NAID CertificationWeRecycle! Inc., based in Wallingford, Conn., a provider of IT asset recovery and recycling services, has announced that its Meriden, Conn., processing facility has been certified by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) for mobile computer hard drive destruction.
NAID offers its AAA Certification program to all of its member companies providing information destruction services.
Andrew Vermette, asset recovery manager at WeRecycle! Inc., says, "NAID certification further demonstrates our capabilities as a leader in the data destruction and asset recovery industry while proving our commitment to quality across our process and services."
WeRecycle! Inc. offers IT asset recovery, data security and recycling, including asset management, data destruction, complete recycling, logistics services and compliance assistance services. The company is a signatory of the BAN Pledge of True Stewardship and a member of NERC (Northeast Recycling Council), NRC (National Recycling Coalition), ISRI (Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries) and NAID.
Xstrata Copper Boosts Electronics Recycling CapacityXstrata Copper has announced plans to double the electronic scrap recycling capacity at its Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. When complete, the smelter will be able to receive and process 100,000 metric tons per year of electronic scrap.
The main focus of the project is the modification of the Horne smelter’s receiving and sampling processes. Xstrata says it expects the expansion to allow it to meet the growing need for e-scrap smelting capacity.
The first phase of the expansion is expected to be operational by January of 2009, while the second phase will be completed by January 2010.
Xstrata recycles more than 120,000 metric tons of metal per year.
Patent Sharing Could Boost Electronics RecyclingSeveral prominent corporations are working together in what is being billed as a first-of-its-kind effort to release dozens of patents to the public domain.
Leading the effort are the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Geneva, Switzerland, and IBM, Armonk, N.Y. In a news release, the two organizations announce that they are "initiating this effort in partnership with Nokia, Pitney Bowes and Sony."
The pledged portfolio, dubbed the "Eco-Patent Commons," is available on a dedicated, public Web site hosted by the WBCSD at www.wbcsd.org/web/epc.
"Availability of these patents will encourage researchers, entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes in any industry to create, apply and further develop their consumer or industrial products, processes and services in a way that will help to protect and respect the environment," IBM and the WBCSD state in their news release.
Patents pledged to the Eco-Patent Commons feature innovations focused on environmental matters and innovations in manufacturing or business processes where the solution provides an environmental benefit.
Examples of the environmental benefits expected for pledged patents include:
• Increased recycling opportunity;
• Energy conservation or improved energy or fuel efficiency;
• Pollution prevention (source reduction, waste reduction);
• Use of environmentally preferable materials or substances ; and
• Water or materials use reduction.
Membership in the Eco-Patent Commons is open to individuals and companies pledging one or more patents, according to the news release.

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