COMPUTER DEALER NEWS, July 26, 2002, Vol. 18 No. 14

Canada's e-waste problem needs a cleanup

by Patricia Zyska

The e-waste problem is escalating and something has to be done about it. Most recycling companies agree to that much.

But some experts are at odds when it comes to deciding how exactly IT equipment should be disposed of, and whether it should be refurbished or resold.

One recycling firm in Chicago argues the liability risks accompanying resale and refurbishment initiatives are way too high.

Intercon specializes in the demanufacturing of electronics, which the firm's CEO Brian Brundage defined as "taking apart the equipment the opposite way that it was put together."

Brundage, who's been in the scrap business for 15 years, said his firm's sole mandate is to recycle equipment 100 per cent. "We handle the material properly and make sure we can recycle it."

Intercon will not resell any equipment or donate electronics for reuse because of U.S. environmental liability laws, Brundage said. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency's Computer Takeback Campaign platform calls for producer responsibility in order to ensure the proper collection, reuse and recycling of discarded equipment, as well as the phase out of hazardous materials and an end to overseas export of electronic waste, among other things. EPA regulations stipulate a large corporation recycling more than 240 pounds of material must notify the government and keep that e-waste out of landfills, he explained.

Intercon's customers would rather have the peace of mind that their material will be recycled properly, than face the possible consequences of handing used computers over to someone who might not bother disposing of them properly, he added.

"If I took in a load of material and then sold what was good off the load, I'm really not releasing my customer of any environmental liability. At that point I've resold something to go to somebody else. I don't know what that other person will do with that monitor or CPU. They might end up using it for two years and then smuggling it into their trash."

If the equipment does end up in the landfill, a serial number could track it back to the original owner, who, without a certificate proving it was recycled, is liable for that landfill cleanup, he said.

The equipment might also be shipped to another country, where it could end up in a landfill after a couple of years, he added. "Taking it in and shipping it off to some other country, or bringing it into a landfill isn't solving the problem. Our environment is not just North America," he said.

Brundage was critical of the resale of PCs for charitable purposes. "Some companies do a certain amount of charity business, but it's not their whole business," he said. "In my opinion, those people are taking tax write offs. Reselling is a good business, especially if you're getting it for nothing or getting paid to take it, but it doesn't solve the problem."

Brundage agreed that current IT recycling initiatives are a good start - but they're not enough.

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