Conference Speakers to Address Possible E-Waste Regulations

Electronics makers could be saddled with an expensive state patchwork of fees, restrictions, and “take-back” mandates if no agreements can be reached on a national recycling program this month.

Speakers at the Take it Back West conference, to be held March 1-3 at the Crowne Plaza, Foster City, Calif., will provide details on how to deal with complex recycling policies – from California’s new cathode ray tube fee, to heavy metals bans in Europe, to new packaging fees in Ontario, Canada. The theme will be ‘Recycling Policy and the Supply Chain.”

The international plenary March 2 will feature regulatory speakers from Austria to India to South Korea and Japan. The March 3 electronics sessions will feature experts from Hewlett-Packard, Philips, NTT Japan, White & Case Belgium, as well as European electronics recyclers and the California waste board.

A morning government policy session will provide panels on all aspects of the e-waste issue, as well as marine litter, while the afternoon debate will provide an open forum for all sides on the e-waste issue.

In response to recent approval of new packaging fees in Ontario, Canada, the conference has added a new session March 1, opposite a session on plastics recycling technology. The March 1 afternoon packaging plenary will feature speakers from HP, IBM, and Bausch & Lomb.

The Take it Back WEST conference is co-sponsored by Foresite Systems Ltd., UK,, Environmental Packaging International, and the Polymer Alliance Zone. Silver sponsors include United Recycling Industries, RFI Wireless, UK, and the Fortune Group recyclers.

For more information on the conference go to the Raymond Communications web site at http://www.raymond.com