[GreenYes] Houston starts e-recycling program

[Ted Smith <tsmith@svtc.org>]

Enclosed is an article from today's  (October 8)
Houston Chronicle which
discusses a new e-waste program in the city.  Although the program
is only
a baby step forward, the article does manage to discuss EPR and 
DfE.



Oct. 8, 2001, 9:53PM

Houston targets high-tech trash 

Recycling program to collect old electronics for safe disposal 

By TONY FREEMANTLE 
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle 

They are hidden in attics, closets and other domestic nooks and crannies
in
houses across America. Millions of old computers, monitors,
keyboards,
printers -- harmless, outdated relics of technology. 

Harmless, that is, until people finally get tired of the clutter and
throw
them away. That's when they become part of a growing, and experts
say,
potentially enormous environmental problem. 

Each computer monitor contains about 4 pounds of lead in the glass
and
solder used in the circuitry. Thermostats, sensors, relays,
semi-conductors, batteries, infrared detectors contain mercury, cadmium
and
arsenic, all toxic substances. 

It is not the individual machine that is of concern to federal and
state
regulators, environmentalists and computer manufacturers, though.
The
danger lies in the accumulative totals of these substances finding
their
way into the waste stream if not disposed of properly. 

States and municipalities across the country -- including Houston --
are
slowly beginning to deal with the problem. At least two states have
declared discarded computers hazardous materials, meaning they cannot
be
dumped in landfills. The federal government is studying the problem.
Cities
are opening collection sites for old electronics. 

This week, Houston inaugurated its electronics recycling pilot program
at
two city-run collection points. Officials are encouraging residents to
drop
off obsolete computers, televisions, cell phones, audio equipment, VCRs
and
unwanted electronics at the centers. 

The National Safety Council estimates that by 2004 there will be 
315
million obsolete computers in the U.S., many of them destined for
landfills, incinerators or for export as hazardous waste. Some
estimate
that number will be half a billion or more by 2007. And estimates are
that
only one quarter of the obsolete machines have been thrown out. 

"The big problem is that people all around the country and all
around the
world are figuring out they have all these things in attics and closets
and
wherever and they now want to get rid of them," said Ted Smith,
the
executive director of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an
activist
organization that has tracked the problem for years. "Most people
still
don't realize that these things are toxic." 

If, by 2004, there are indeed 315 million obsolete computers in
America,
there will be, based on the amount of such substances in the 
average
computer, 1.2 billion pounds of additional lead in the nation's
waste
stream, 2 million pounds of cadmium, 400,000 pounds of mercury, just
to
name a few. 

The good news, said Smith, is that because the vast majority of old
computers have not yet made it into the country's dumps, there is some
time
to develop a strategy for their safe disposal. 

For the most part, that strategy involves recycling, even though it is
a
labor intensive enterprise offering little financial reward.
Houston's
program, which is starting with a mere $30,000, is a perfect example of
the
economics of such programs. 

The city has contracted with Waste Management to operate its new
residential electronics recycling pilot program. Waste Management will
pay
the city 5 cents per pound for all central processing units and cell
phones
without batteries it collects. The city, on the other hand, will pay
Waste
Management 25 cents per pound for monitors, by far the heaviest
component,
and 27 cents a pound for televisions (which also contain lead in 
the
cathode ray tube). 

Ed Chen, deputy director of the recycling division in Houston's Solid
Waste
Management Department, said based on the experience of on other
municipalities, the city expects to collect 200 to 300 tons of equipment
at
its two collection centers over the next nine months. 

"It's not a big program," Chen said. "But if we don't
start doing something
to properly dispose of these materials they will eventually end up
in
landfills and penetrate the groundwater. Houston gets half of its
water
supply from ground water." 

The potential problem is an important one for the Houston area in
particular, said Justus Baird, president of the board of the area
Citizens'
Environmental Coalition, because computer manufacturers are an
integral
part of the economy and they are an essential part of the solution. 

"From an environmental standpoint, this should not be a solid waste
issue,"
Baird said. "It should be a resources and recovery issue. There need
to be
some regulations that cover the manufacturer in terms of what is in
the
machines and in terms of taking responsibility for recycling and
recovery." 

Manufacturers are not blind to the problem and most have recycling
programs. 

Compaq Financial Services, a subsidiary of Compaq Computers that
handles
the manufacturer's corporate leasing and financing operations, and
which
owns $3.25 billion worth of computers, runs such a program. Computers
that
are returned to the company are stripped down, those parts that can
be
re-used are removed and the remainder is sent to a recycler for disposal.

Irv Rothman, chief executive officer of Compaq Financial Services, said
in
1999 the company took back 250,000 machines, in 2000 the number rose
to
400,000. This year it expects to handle 650,000. 

IBM has a similar program, but it also offers consumers a recycling
option
for $29.99 at the time of purchase. A company spokesman said the
company
recycled more than 120 million pounds of computer equipment in 1999.

Smith, of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, said his organization
was
working to get computer manufacturers to adopt a new principle
called
Extended Producer Responsibility, which encourages producers to
mitigate
the pollution potential of their products at each stage of its life
cycle. 

That starts, he said, with materials, such as lead-free monitors and
solder. 

"It makes sense that what you put in at the beginning determines
what you
get out at the end," Smith said. "We also have to develop some
national
norms and protocols for making these things and there is a lot of
discussion going on at state and federal levels about this." 

The Environmental Protection Agency is involved in that debate, said
Dave
Bary, a regional spokesman in Dallas, but there are no federal rules
that
require "this kind of stuff is disposed of in any other way than in
a
landfill." 

Nationally, California and Massachusetts have taken the lead on the
issue
with both states declaring old computers hazardous waste to be regulated
as
such when discarded. 

In Texas, only Houston and a handful of other municipalities have
either
started programs to collect the material on an on-going basis or have
held
one-day collection events. 

Houston residents can dispose of computers and other old electronic
equipment at the city's Environmental Service Center, 11500 South Post
Oak,
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and from 9 a.m. to 1
p.m.
the second Saturday of the month, and at the Westpark Consumer
Recycling
Center, 5900 Westpark, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Proof
of residency is required. The phone number for both locations is
713-551-7355. 


Leslie Byster
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
International Campaign for Responsible Technology
www.svtc.org
lbyster@igc.org

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Ted Smith

Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition

Campaign for Responsible Technology

760 N. First Street

San Jose, CA 95112

408-287-6707-phone

408-287-6771-fax

tsmith@igc.org

http://www.svtc.org/svtc/

=========================================

Food for thought:

How Gandhi Defined the Seven Deadly Sins

· Wealth without work

· Pleasure without conscience

· Knowledge without character

· Commerce without morality

· Science without humanity

· Worship without sacrifice

· Politics without principle