Sustainable Electronics Initiative
Promoting a more sustainable system for designing, producing, using, and managing electronic devices.
Note: This post was written by SEI staff member, Amy Cade.
The video aired 6-23-09 on PBS Frontline/World.
On the outskirts of Ghana’s biggest city sits a smoldering wasteland, a slum carved into the banks of the Korle Lagoon, one of the most polluted bodies of water on earth. The locals call it Sodom and Gomorrah.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
WATCH: Governor vetoes TV recycling measure | News for Austin, Texas | KVUE.com | Local News
KVUE News, Austin, TX, 6/23/09. Includes video with reporter Elise Hu. “Austin Democrat Kirk Watson says he’s stunned by a veto from Governor Rick Perry of a bill that would have encouraged people to recycle their old TVs instead of throwing them out. Watson’s measure would have called for manufacturers to take back their old sets. He says the manufacturers were OK with that, and that’s why he’s surprised Perry tossed it out. “
Comments associated with this news article are interesting; people are perplexed as to why legislation would be necessary to encourage recycling. This indicates an ignorance of the cost associated with electronics recycling.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
LG, San Francisco BART Begin Mobile Phone Recycling
Waste & Recycling News, 6/10/09 edition. “LGE MobileComm USA, a unit of LG Electronics Inc., is teaming up with San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit to provide mobile phone recycling. LG began outfitting six BART stations in San Francisco with cell phone collection receptacles to encourage commuters to recycle their phones, chargers and accessories. The sites will accept any manufacturer’s devices through July 6. Only 10% of the mobile phones sold in the United States are recycled, according to the company.”
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Note: This post was written by SEI staff member, Amy Cade.
Sustainable Management of Electronic Waste (e-Waste)
Design for environment cleaner production, extended producer responsibility, standards and labeling, product stewardship, recycling and remanufacturing are some of the practices adopted by various countries around the world to deal with the e-waste stream. An overview of these practices is presented and the manner in which they contribute to the sustainable management of e-waste is discussed.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
The text of this bill (SB-107) is available online.
Wisconsin Senate Approves E-Waste Recycling Bill
Associated Press via Forbes, 6/9/09. The Wisconsin Senate has approved (23-10) a bill that would require electronics manufacturers to arrange for recycling of their products.Under Wisconsin’s bill, dumping e-waste in landfills would be banned. Manufacturers would have to arrange to recycle 80 percent of the total weight of products they sold in the state in a given year. They also would have to pay up to $5,000 annually to register with state environmental officials.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Indiana recently became the latest state to pass e-waste legislation. See the Diigo bookmarks below for a relevant press release, as well as the text of the law.
Enrolled Act, House Bill 1589 (Indiana)
Indiana law signed 5/13/09. Manufacturers of video display devices, such as TVs, computer monitors and laptops, must recycle 60 percent by weight of their sales of those products. They are required to register with the state by April 2010 and must include a plan describing how they will meet their recycling targets. They can count the recycling of other electronics, such as printers, keyboards and VCRs, toward their recycling goals. Manufacturers must report their progress at the end of each program year for state review. In the third year, the state will impose penalties for noncompliance.
Indiana Becomes Latest State to Pass E-Waste Law | GreenerComputing
The Indiana e-waste law forces manufacturers to take responsibility for the collection and recycling of their products. Manufacturers of video display devices, such as TVs and computer monitors, must register with the state by April 2010. Greener Computing, 5/19/09.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Owner Of EarthEcycle Speaks Out On Allegations Against Company – kdka.com
Andy Sheehan of KDKA (Pittsburgh) interviews Jeff Nixon, owner of EarthECycle, an electronics recycling company that is the focus of recent expose by BAN and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition. Nixon denies any wrong doing and expresses his intent to conduct more e-waste fundraising events, such as the one examined in the BAN/ETBC report. (see http://www.ban.org/Library/PittsburghScam.pdf)
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Dell and Goodwill Industries International are expanding a free drop-off program for consumers to recycle any brand of unwanted computer equipment. The program is expanding to 451 new donation sites in seven additional states: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Virginia. The program in Wisconsin is also expanding to the southeastern and South Central parts of the state. The Reconnect program is now available in 18 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Read the full story in the 6/8/09 edition of Waste & Recycling News.
For more information on Reconnect, visit the program web site.
The Basel Action Network (BAN) has joined forces with the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) to launch the ANAB accreditation for the certifying bodies that will audit and certify BAN’s e-Stewards Certification program. Read the full BAN press release here.
The e-Stewards program is a third-party audited certification 
program for electronics recyclers meeting the “highest standards of environmental and social responsibility.” According to the program web site, these standards include “no toxic e-waste dumped in landfills or incinerators, exported to developing countries, or sent to prison labor operations and no release of private data.”
The Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) recently launched a resource compendium on its web site (called a “Sector Resource”) on electronic waste issues. This compendium will include links to relevant legislation, news, events, funding opportunities, and contacts. An RSS feed is available. Read more about this resource collection on the GLRPPR Blog.
GLRPPR is a member of the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx), a national network of pollution prevention information centers. The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is the host agency for GLRPPR.