RCO Considers Electronics Recycling Paths

The Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO), Toronto, will take initial steps to establish a policy position regarding the management of end-of-life electronics equipment. The group’s Policy Committee will discuss the issue at its forthcoming meeting on August 20.^.

Causing concern for the RCO is that such equipment often contains toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, beryllium, brominated flame-retardants and poly-vinyl chloride. “These compounds pose risks both to the environment, when improperly managed through disposal in landfills or incinerators, and to workers involved in their end-of-life management,” the RCO says in a statement.

The RCO committee will review recent work completed by Hanson Research + Communications, a consulting firm led by former RCO executive director John Hanson. The work profiles current municipal electronics recycling efforts and costs, current or proposed industry programs and reviews other national baseline data.

On the collections side of the electronics recycling equation in Canada, Hewlett Packard (HP) has launched a nationwide recycling program. The company’s Canadian computer parts recycling program emulates a similar operation in the U.S. Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto, Calif., maintains its Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.

In Canada, the company will accept computers from businesses and households at a cost of between $20 and $52 per item, depending upon the type and quantity of hardware to be returned. 

HP will assess all returned hardware to determine if it meets minimum criteria for donating to non-profit organizations. If it is determined that computer hardware has no value as a whole product, HP will separate products into their key commodities such as steel, aluminum, copper, and plastics. HP will then market these materials to manufacturers that can use them as raw materials in making new products.