As cell phone usage gains popularity in the United States, and all over the world, recyclers are faced with a number of challenges in recycling the phones at the end of their useful life, according to Mike Newman, vice president of marketing and special products for ReCellular Inc., Dexter, Mich.
At a presentation on e-recycling at WasteExpo 2006, Newman said there are now around 200 million mobile phone users in the United States, with 21.8 million adding service in 2005. With an average lifespan of about 18 months, thousands of phones are available for reuse or recycling in some form every month.
Unique characteristics of cell phones as products make them somewhat more challenging to recycle than other electronics, Newman said. Cell phones’ short lifespan, high perceived product value, low perceived product worth and small size can put up barriers to cell phone recycling.
When phones reach the end of their useful life, about 65 percent of them are used again in their original form, as phones, according to Newman. About 35 percent are recycled for their precious metal content.
Newman said there has been some regulatory response to encourage cell phone recycling, such as e-recycling laws in California. He also said some municipalities are looking into legislation that puts the responsibility for recycling on consumers, such as a law in West Chester County, N.Y., that prohibits throwing old cell phones away.
According to Newman, future trends in cell phone recycling will include increased scrutiny over trans-boundary movement and greater emphasis placed on the security of personal information contained on cell phones.
Jason Linnell, executive director of the National Center for Electronics Recycling, also addressed attendees on legal trends in electronics recycling, summarizing current laws in effect and those under consideration in 2006.
Linnell discussed the implementation of California’s SB 20/50, which placed an advance recycling fee (ARF) on electronic products at the point of sale. The fee applies to CRT devices, including TVs and monitors, LCD devices, including laptops and monitors and LCD and plasma TVs, which were added July 1, 2005.
Authorized recyclers receive $0.28 per pound and authorized collectors receive $0.20 per pound. Linnell said as of March 2006, there are 384 approved collectors in the state and 45 authorized recyclers operating. He said there have been 225 claims submitted for payment.
Linnell also updated attendees on legislation in Maine, which places more responsibility on producers and manufacturers for the recycling of their electronic products. Approved in 2004, the law covers TVs and computer monitors from Maine households. Under the law, manufacturers are billed for the recycling of their products based on brand count and their share in covering orphan products, which no longer have an operating manufacturer associated with them.
Linnell said around 20 states have introduced electronics recycling legislation, including advanced recovery fees, commissions and task forces, landfill and incineration bans and amendments to the legislation in California and Maine. There is also activity on the regional and federal fronts, with an E-Waste Working Group formed in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2005 and a number of congressional hearings.
More information on ReCellular is available at www.recellular.net and more information on the National Center for Electronics Recycling is available at www.electronicsrecycling.org.
WasteExpo was held the first week of April at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas.