Laws and regulations can help divert obsolete materials from the landfill or prohibit materials from being exported, but Joe Yob of Creative Recycling, Tampa, Fla., says legislators and policy makers should understand one truth above all others: “That which gets rewarded gets done.”
Electronics recycler Yob was part of a panel discussion moderated by freelance journalist Adam Minter at the World Recycling Forum, held in Hong Kong in mid-November. Yob was joined by former scrap company owner Stephen Greer, now with Oaktree Capital; Michel Dubois of Luxembourg-based scrap company Recylux Group; and Professor Li Jinhui of Tsinghua University in Beijing. The members of the panel offered their observations on how their industry is evolving in China and the rest of the world.
Yob said Creative Recycling does not ship obsolete electronics to non-OEDC countries, as mandated by the Basel Convention, but noted that some people in the United States continue to take advantage of the United States being a non-signer of that treaty. “There is still as much [electronic scrap exporting] as there always was,” said Yob.
That means Creative “is still at a disadvantage as a recycler/processor competing with people who export trailers to non-OEDC countries,” said Yob. “People who don’t want to invest the capital to process it are going to export it.”
He continued, “If we’re going to have extended producer responsibility, the fees collected need to be distributed to the recyclers and to certification organizations like BAN (Basel Action Network).” Added Yob, “We want to bring the critics inside, so they can see that what we’re doing is done right.”
Dubois said the export of electronic scrap from Europe to China “is not very common,” as recyclers are aware of the Basel Convention restrictions. Aluminum scrap shipments “with even one [integrated circuit] board in it can be blocked” at a port in Europe, where controls are “very, very strict,” according to Dubois.
Greer said there had been a spotlight put on Hong Kong’s role as a “transfer ground” for electronic scrap heading to China. A representative from the Hong Kong government said the region’s government had been taking action to inspect “about 100 rural sites” in the New Territories of Hong Kong to ensure they meet permit requirements.
Professor Li remarked that the Beijing government has been strengthening its relationship and level of communication between environmental and customs agencies and with Hong Kong’s regional government “to try to have uniform action to stop illegal material flows.”
The 2011 World Recycling Forum, hosted by ICM AG, was Nov. 15-18 in Hong Kong.