WasteExpo 2016: A plateau in participation

From a lack of legislation to a need to invest in innovations, it’s a challenging time for electronics recyclers, according to speakers in the “Electronics Recycling Trends & Markets” session at WasteExpo 2016 held June 6-9, 2016, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Twenty-five U.S. states have some type of law designating an electronics recycling program, said Jason Linnell, co-founder and executive director of the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER), Vienna, West Virginia. “However, not all of these laws are equal,” Linnell said.

The depth and range of e-scrap legislation from state to state is a real challenge for recyclers, said Eugene Niuh, business development director for Omnisource Electronics Recycling, Fort Wayne, Indiana. He said recyclers must “really be on top” and knowledgeable about the changing incoming material stream.

“If you operate in several states, you really have to be in tune with legislation there,” Niuh said. “There are a lot of challenges recyclers in these states [with e-scrap laws] have to be aware of.”

Another challenge for e-scrap recyclers has been finding and keeping markets, Linnell said. While half of the nation’s states have so far implemented e-scrap legislation, any laws related to e-scrap have not been passed since 2011—when Utah joined the list.

“We’ve seen a real plateau happen,” Linnell said.

He added, “There’s a lot of opportunities in state laws but several states are looking to modify because of the challenges we’ve faced.”

While some states are taking notice, Linnell said he does not foresee Congress passing a federal e-scrap law in the short nor medium term. The industry attempted to enforce a federal e-scrap program in the early 2000s, Linnell said, but no one could agree on financing. California was the first state to pass such a law, and soon after several states followed up with their own rules and regulations related to electronics recycling.

Beyond legislation, the timeframe of how long consumers hold onto old electronic devices affects electronics recyclers, Niuh said. He said he refers to e-scrap as “end of use” not “end of life” as electronic devices can be refurbished and resold for profit.

He explained how refurbishing e-scrap has the “highest margins” for recyclers. When people toss old cellphones in drawers or store devices in boxes in basements, the resale value substantially diminishes.

“We want to try to put devices back in the market but the challenge is as consumers hold onto devices longer, it’s extremely difficult to resell and repair,” Niuh said.

People must be educated and informed about e-scrap recycling, he said.

This includes being aware of hazardous materials contained within devices. For one, Niuh said a number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are designing electronics to mitigate this issue, such as refraining from using lead or mercury in devices.

Cathode ray tube (CRT) glass is still a big concern in the industry, Linnell said. He pointed out that if a recycler is taking e-scrap from households, mostly what he or she will receive will be CRT TVs. He predicted 6 billion pounds of CRTs is available for collection today.

“The markets are limited and more costly so it has been more difficult for recyclers to find somewhere to send these,” Linnell said of CRTs, adding, “When that doesn’t happen, we get to abandonment issues that states are dealing with and recyclers are trying to prevent stockpiling.”

Linnell referenced “The Electronics Recycling Landscape Report,” a report by the Sustainability Consortium, Tempe, Arizona, and the NCER, commissioned by the Closed Loop Foundation, which is affiliated with the Closed Loop Fund, on the current used electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) management landscape within the United States. Regarding CRTs, the report states, “Even though the volumes of displays stored may be decreasing, they are still expected to dominate the used electronics stream by weight for at least the next five years. There will continue to be issues related to abandoned stockpiles and wholly irresponsible management of displays for at least that long.”

The short product life cycle of nearly all other devices “is going to be an ongoing thing we will deal with,” Niuh said.

Disassembling devices also is an ongoing issue recyclers need to figure out, Linnell said. He referenced innovations such as Apple Inc.’s Liam, a line of robots designed in-house that can dismantle 1.2 million phones per year. (Read more about recyclers innovating and investing as electronics continue to get smaller in the June 2016 article, “Disassembling the dilemmas” here.)

Investing in technologies to capture more components from devices is where recyclers should be headed, Linnell said.

“The future of smaller devices will need to be handled in a more automated, efficient way,” he said.

WasteExpo 2016 was June 6-9, 2016, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.