E-SCRAP 2003: The NEPSI Challenge

The individual in charge of trying to forge an agreement between the 48 negotiating parties taking part in the National Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI) is the first to admit the task has been arduous.

“NEPSI has been a unique challenge,” Cat Wilt, NEPSI program director and University of Tennessee senior research associate, told attendees of the E-Scrap 2003 conference in October.

The challenging process, which began in 2001, may come to a head in December, when Wilt says a Dec. 9-11 meeting will probably determine whether an agreement on a method to finance an electronics recycling system will be possible.

The NEPSI participants, or stakeholders, consist of 15 product manufacturers, 15 representatives from government agencies and 18 other participants ranging from environmental groups to trade associations and retailers.

According to Wilt, the stakeholders have met eight times previously, in addition to holding numerous ad hoc meetings among some members and conducting countless teleconferences.

The group is working toward the formulation of a policy acceptable to electronics manufacturers, retailers, recyclers and the government agencies that oversee solid waste and recycling policy.

Finding common ground has been contentious, according to Wilt and others involved in the process, but the outline of a policy recommendation has emerged.

According to Wilt, the “hybrid model” that is emerging calls for an advanced recovery fee (ARF) to be enacted at the point of purchase for computers, monitors, TVs, keyboards and potentially printers and other electronics item.

This ARF would eventually be retired in favor of moving costs to those involved in the manufacturing and recycling process (rather than taxing home and business computer buyers) in what NEPSI calls a partial cost internalization (PCI) process.

Although she is pleased with the amount of agreement reached on this hybrid model, Wilt cautions that there may still be several “deal breaking” snags in the offing that will prevent a document signed by all stakeholders resulting at the December meeting. Among the potential stumbling blocks: finalizing the list of items subject to the ARF and collected in the system; agreement by involved parties over which PCI costs they must cover and whether they are able to; and whether the system can be enacted without federal legislation (and whether such legislation can be moved through Congress).

Wilt told attendees of the show that if some form of agreement cannot come out of the Dec. 9-11 meeting in Chicago, she and several of the participants may be ready to throw in the towel. “There is no way we’re continuing [unless] there is considerable movement on the [deal-breaking] issues,” she remarked.

The E-Scrap 2003 conference took place Oct. 22-23 in Orlando and was organized by Resource Recycling magazine and sponsored by several recycling and recycling equipment companies.