Electronics Recycling Conference & Trade Show: Back to Basics

Speakers addressed the basics of electronics recycling during a session titled “Collections 101” at the Electronics Recycling Conference & Trade Show, held in Orlando June 10-12.

The Recycling Today Media Group planned the event with the help of the World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association (WR3A), a Middlebury, Vt.-based nonprofit trade co-op dedicated to "fair trade" standards for international recycling.         

The session’s speakers were Robin Ingenthron, president of American Retroworks, Middlebury, Vt., and of WR3A; Bob Nicholson of Uniwaste Services Corp., Portsmouth, N.H.; and Tim Anderson, president of World Computer Exchange. The speakers addressed a variety of topics, including reuse, recycling and donation of personal computers and monitors.

Ingenthron began his presentation by saying there is “an awful lot of wishful thinking” surrounding electronics, adding that it was easy to believe that aging electronics can be reused. However, this is not always the case, according to Ingenthron.

Part of the problem is the decline in the domestic secondary market. The reuse market for devices containing CRTs, such as computer monitors and televisions, is collapsing within the United States, he said, citing the decline in TV repair services. In 1990, the U.S. was home to 100,000 TV repairmen; however, in 2010, that number is projected to decrease to 19,000, Ingenthron said.

WR3A is attempting to identify legitimate reuse markets outside of the United States.

According to Ingenthron, three electronics recycling business models exist in the United States. The first is capital intensive and requires the use of shredders and separation equipment. The state of California has embraced this model, Ingenthron said. The second model is labor intensive and focuses on demanufacturing, while the third model is based on “smoke and mirrors,” with “recyclers” abusing the system by sending nonworking units along with units that can be refurbished and resold to refurbishers in overseas markets.

Bob Nicholson and Uniwaste is a recycler who is trying to do things “the right way,” however, that approach sometimes leads to higher costs for the company’s customers. “If a customer is driven purely by prices, chances are we aren’t going to do business with them,” he told attendees.

Nicholson suggested that attendees looking for recyclers to process their electronics should ask about the company’s mass balance, or how much of the material received was turned into a marketable commodity with documented end markets. 

Anderson of World Computer Exchange (WCE), which claims to be the largest North American nonprofit provider of donated used computers, says the organization has shipped 23,072 computers to connect 2,322 schools with 992,500 students in 34 developing countries, he said.

According to Anderson, WCE acts as “a quiet, respectful and transparent broker helping partners to build their ICT in education capacity.”

The Electronics Recycling Conference & Trade Show was held in Orlando at the Peabody Hotel from June 10 to June 12.