[GreenYes] [p2] Staples National Launch of Electronics Recycling Programs

[Gary Liss <gary@no.address>]

Apologies for Cross-Postings

>Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 12:21:34 -0700
>From: "Raul E Gonzalez" <raulg@no.address>
>To: <p2@no.address>
>FYI
>
>News Release May 21, 2007*
>Contact: Scott Cassel, 617-236-4855 - Product Stewardship Institute*
>
>Staples Starts First National Retail Electronics Collection Based on 
>Recycling Pilot
>
>Boston - Staples, Inc., the office super-store, today became the first
>major retailer to collect used electronics from its customers. The
>announcement came three years after a trial effort showed that items
>such as computers could be easily recycled at low cost to consumers and
>retailers.
>
>Staples will accept all brands of computers, monitors, laptops,
>printers, faxes, and all-in-one devices at its U.S. stores for a fee of
>$10 per large item. Televisions, which Staples does not sell, are not
>accepted.
>
>The 2004 pilot program, a collaboration between Staples, U.S. EPA, and
>the Product Stewardship Institute, Inc. (PSI) successfully showed that
>Staples could provide recycling services for unwanted computer equipment
>
>to its retail and commercial customers within the company's existing
>distribution infrastructure.
>
>"The pilot showed that consumers and businesses will respond, if given
>the chance to recycle consumer electronics," said Scott Cassel,
>Executive Director of the Product Stewardship Institute. "This is a
>model that works, saves resources, and can ultimately be adopted by
>other retailers for a range of consumer products."
>
>The Boston-based Product Stewardship Institute, a national non-profit
>organization that promotes sustainable resource use, managed an EPA
>"eCycling" grant. PSI designed and implemented the project along with
>Staples to test whether computer recycling could be consistent with
>Staples' business model. Analysis of the pilot indicated that eCycling
>was cost effective, and was well received by consumers and Staples.
>
>"The Staples program shows that retailers can take-back used consumer
>products from their customers just as easily as they currently take back
>
>damaged or unwanted products," said Cassel. "The next step is to remove
>the "end-of-life" fee charged to consumers, as part of a national
>system."
>
>Conducted during the summer of 2004, the project collected unwanted
>electronic equipment sold by Staples (including laptops, computer
>processing units, monitors, printers, fax machines, and small peripheral
>devices) from both retail and commercial customers, and provided
>recycling services using "reverse logistics" via Staples' delivery
>trucks and its existing product distribution network.
>
>PSI concluded that a retail collection model was a viable option to
>complement and expand the existing eWaste collection infrastructure,
>although retailers may conclude that nominal user fees would need to be
>charged to consumers to offset the collection and recycling costs.
>Generally, high transportation costs are one of the barriers for
>providing cost-efficient eCycling services.
>
>The pilots collected and recycled a total of 57 tons of eWaste during
>several months in mid-2004. In one program, Staples collected electronic
>equipment from retail customers at 27 Staples retail stores in five
>states (Maine [10 stores], Mass. [8 stores], N.H. [5 stores], Conn. [3
>stores] and R.I. [1 store]) over a six-week period. In a second program,
>
>Staples collected electronic equipment from 14 existing commercial
>customers in three states (Mass., Maine and N.H.) who typically receive
>direct delivery of products at their place of business. This pilot
>tested the "reverse logistics" transportation model using Staples'
>product delivery networks. The collected equipment was back-hauled by
>delivery carriers, consolidated at distribution and fulfillment centers,
>and then transported to Envirocycle, an electronics recycler located in
>Hallstead, Penn.
>
>Information on the Staples pilot project is available at:
>
>http://www.productstewardship.us/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=72
>
><http://www.productstewardship.us/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=7
>2>.
>
>Information on EPA's Plug-in To eCycling program is at:
>http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/plugin/index.htm.

Gary Liss
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485
www.garyliss.com 
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