Plastics and Electronics Recycling Conferences: Responsible Recycling

The theme of the combined plastics and electronics session at Recycling Today’s June Conferences, “Unplugged and Ready for Recycling,” focused on how the industry has a social and environmental responsibility in the way plastics from electronics are recycled.

Rodney Clara from Direct Computer Disposal of California discussed how recyclers had a responsibility to protect their employees from harmful chemicals when disassembling computers and CRTs. Computers either contain or are coated with BFR’s (Brominated Flame Retardants), which can cause problems when it is reused in different end markets such as toy manufacturing, according to lara.

Renee St. Denis from Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) Palo Alto, Calif., agrees the industry needs to recycle products in a socially responsible way. HP does not make any products that use BFRs, according to St. Denis. She added that as the value of plastics continued to rise, companies such as HP were making investments in technology and recovery processes to capture more of this valuable commodity.

HP recycles in 57 countries and expects to recycle 2 billion pounds of materials by 2010. One program HP has started to recycle more plastic is its collection of used printer cartridges and re-grinding them to produce new ones.

Lisa Collins with electronics recycler Global Investment Recovery Inc., Tampa, Fla., expects to see CRT equipment coming through its system for a long time to come. Global Investment Recovery specializes in precious metal refining and processed 65 million pounds of electronic equipment in 2007.

Collins said plastics were the second largest problem (after leaded glass) in the electronics recycling industry because it was hard to find good end markets for them. “[Mixed] electronic plastic is dirty,” according to Collins. “And our customers want a nice clean plastic from electronics.”

In regard to new legislation, St. Denis is skeptical of portions of California’s law, which puts the responsibility of products at the end of their lives in the government’s hands. “The producers have no responsibility for the product at the end of their lives,” St. Denis said. “This law needs to be fixed and it should make the manufacturers responsible.” The manufacturer knows how to dismantle the products and can send them to end markets without fear of contamination, she adds.

Next year’s Recycling Today Media Group’s Paper, Plastics and Electronics Conferences will be held June 7-9 in Atlanta.