EPA Rule Could Alter Monitor Recycling

 A proposed rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could ease restrictions that have caused many municipalities and recyclers to back away from handling cathode ray tubes (CRTs) used in computer monitors and televisions.

In a presentation to attendees of an Association of Ohio Recyclers event in Akron, Jason Swift of the U.S. EPA Region 5 office in Chicago said the purpose of the proposed rule is to “encourage greater reuse, recycling and better management of CRTs by clarifying the question: When are used CRTs products and when are they a waste?”

According to Swift, the proposed rule “excludes intact CRTs from the definition of solid waste if they are sent for recycling to a glass processor.” This portion of the rule is already current practice in many states.

Additionally, the proposed rule “excludes broken CRTs from the definition of solid waste if sent for recycling including glass processing.” At the same time, the rule does not allow for “speculative accumulation,” meaning the EPA does not want heaps of obsolete monitors piling up in warehouses similar to the way scrap tires were built into mountains by speculators willing to accept a recycling or disposal fee without a clear recycling or disposal method.

Swift says the rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register in February of 2002, followed by a 60-day comment period for manufacturers, recyclers and other interested parties.

If the rule stands with few or no changes, it would then be up to state environmental departments to implement the rule if they choose.

Adopting the rule could help remove onerous shipping and handling requirements for CRTs in place in some states that currently have the devices labeled as hazardous waste. “If [CRT equipment to be recycled] is not considered a solid waste, then it won’t be considered a hazardous waste,” says Swift.

Some recyclers in attendance at the Ohio event expressed frustration at the differing sets of rules in place in different states, which restricts the free flow of recyclable monitors and CRTs across state borders.