Electronic waste (e-waste) has been a growing problem in recent years. The problems with e-

Transcription

1 E-Waste Group Zack Taylor, John Salva, Jeremy Wall, Justin Cwikla Executive Summary (Electronic Waste) Electronic waste (e-waste) has been a growing problem in recent years. The problems with e- waste are that they produce toxic substances, privacy issues and environmental justice issues. The overall goal of our environmental capstone project was to look farther into e-waste recycling, along with developing a recycling program around the University of Kansas campus for students. In conducting our research we first found background information to why electronic waste is a growing environmental problem around the world. Followed by online research we contacted local e-waste recyclers to obtain a better understanding how e-waste is recycled. Through this process we ran into a few walls due to lack of response from local e-waste recyclers or certain individuals lacked the knowledge on the subject. What was originally planned by our group was to propose an annual program that collected electronic waste from students and faculty year round. We found from other university that also attempted this found the program to be non-economically feasible and very few students dropped off electronics. Our final conclusion was to establish an annual drive at the end of the spring semester for students to drop off unwanted electronics. The IT department at KU is unable to provide any direct help, but is willing to give their assistance on a consulting level, sharing their knowledge of the physical process behind handling e-waste William Pesek Jr. Should be the first contact at IT. Kari Cantarero with KU recycling has also expressed interest and would like to help where possible. The company Asset LifeCycle out of Topeka is what KU currently uses for their ewaste removal and was recommended to us. The main hurdle to get over is the funding needed to plan an event with Asset. Student Senate was recommended by IT as the first group to get in contact with as they have a budget for projects like this and have connections with outside companies that could help sponsor the event to further reduce the cost, further they can easily get on campus advertising that would be needed to spread word about the annual event. Environmentally conscious student groups such as Environs could also be contacted as their goals specifically align with the goals of this project.

2 Electronic Waste Final Paper The world s biggest waste concern is how to deal with the amount of electronic waste that is being put into landfills or burned in third world countries. As part of the Environmental Studies Major, Senior Capstone project at KU; students researched electronic waste and developed a plan to provide students at KU a way to dispose of their unwanted electronics. The student s research focused on the world impact of ewaste, contacted individuals at KU to discover what would be allowed, determined what state laws applied to the project, and discovered the best companies to use to support the students goals. World wide the disposal of electronics is recognized as toxic waste. Few products to be considered as e-waste and can be recycled are TVs, computers, hard drives, cell phones and other handheld devices. Today the consumption of electronics in both Europe and the United States are growing rapidly and is becoming the largest municipal waste. A European study estimated that e-waste is growing three times the rate than any other municipal waste. It also has been estimated by the EPA that, on average a normal household can contain approximately 24 electronic products. As technology develops people buy newer updated electronic products accumulating more and more electronics. Many individuals who accumulate these products are unsure how to properly dispose of unwanted e-waste. Electronics can accumulate in households or warehouse taking up space over the years. In some cases individuals will discard electronic waste in the municipal trash which will ultimately contaminate the environment. Electronic products contain rare elements that can be toxic to human health and the overall quality of the environment. Lead, mercury, cadmium and hexavalent chromium are some of the toxic heavy metals found in electronic products. These heavy metals can be leached into the groundwater supply contaminating municipal water sources. Since e-waste can harm the local environment many 1 st work countries have sent e-waste to 3 rd world countries or low income villages overseas. In recent years the United States has been sending the waste to China, India, Viet Nam and Pakistan. In 2010 the United 1

3 States reported 17 percent of electronics were recycled and almost all of what was said to be recycled was actually shipped to low income populations. Large quantities of electronic waste have accumulated by the tons in low come villages. This is considered to be a worldwide environmental justice issue that needs to be addressed. Electronic waste piles have contaminated entire populations with toxic substances that can cause carcinogenic health affects or mortality in respect with exposure to high concentrations. Regulations are beginning to take effect to prevent e-waste from being shipped overseas, along with recycling regulations. In the United States the first e-waste regulation was implemented in 2004 from the state of California. The regulation was based off of the European Union s regulation on e-waste recycling. The motto for California s e-waste recycling policy is, Set up a program for consumers to return, recycle and ensure safe and environmentally sound disposal. California based recycling efforts on a consumer fee upon purchase of any electronic product. Generally the consumer would pay approximately $10 on top of any electronic purchase. The extra fee is used to fund electronic recycling companies to ensure safe and environmentally sound disposal. After California regulations began developing from state to state and now currently 25 states have passed some sort of e-waste recycling law(s). The Federal government has no current regulation on e-waste, but is developing a regulation to ensure proper disposal and transport of electronic waste. The national government is trying to prevent electronics from being shipped to low income villages to protect against sensitive data from being salvaged and sold to other countries. Privacy is a huge concern when recycling hard-drives that contain personal information that could be used against an individual or company. Recycling electronic waste is becoming more efficient allowing for environmentally sound disposal to become a feasible effort. In order to discover any current processes used for ewaste here at KU we got in touch with both Jeff Severin the director of the Center for Sustainability and Kari Cantareo Program Manager for The KU environmental stewardship program which contains the KU Recycling program. We quickly learned that neither one of those departments really had any connection with ewaste itself, the main reason being 2

4 because of the sensitive data often found on machine s hard drives. In both cases we were directed toward the IT department. Our first contact we were given was Chad Hinkle the Administrative Associate Electronic Hardware Recyclist. He forwarded us onto William Pesek Jr. who is the Manager Infrastructure & Data Center Support. After some s back and forth with Mr. Pesek we were able to arrange a meeting with the IT department in order to further explain the idea behind our project and get any input or help that they could provide. Through the s they seemed very interested and excited with our project. On the day of the meeting we were invited to the IT building on Sunnyside drive. We were issued name badges in order to enter. There is a noticeable level of security in the building, we learned, because it is the information center for much of the university. Our meeting began with both Mr. Hinkle and Mr. Pesek sitting in and we were later joined by a representative from even higher up Jeff Perry, Deputy Technology Officer. Our first questions regarded the current ewaste management procedures that were already in place at the University. As we knew there are no services available to students, only faculty and departments and only for university owned hardware. The process involves the completion of a waste form (for either one piece of hardware or many). The forms are given a ticket, and then go to Mr. Hinkle for processing. He then confirms a pickup date and a university release from inventory form to keep tabs on all the university property. All the large scale teardown and hard drive destruction for data security purposes is done in house by KU employees. A machine called a degausser uses high powered magnets to render all hard drives completely useless. All items are stored in a KU warehouse. KU is in a bid contract with a company that operates out of Topeka called Asset LifeCycle to further handle the ewaste. When 7-10 pallets of waste materials have accumulated (roughly the amount that the allocated warehouse can hold) Asset comes to collect the material and handle it at their facilities. The scrap metal from the hard drives is sold to a separate metal recycler in Lawrence. 3

5 Because of the costs and storage associated with processing a high volume of ewaste the IT department at KU is unable to provide a service open to students. Our interviewees did offer however to serve as consultants in the future development of a student ewaste service. They did have some suggestions and advice for our proceedings. Because of the storage issue and manpower required a year round service is not very likely to happen. A better alternative is to hold an annual drive with Asset LifeCycle (or other provider) taking the waste away at the end of the event. They stressed the importance of making the event location highly available to students as any amount of effort on their part would likely result in low participation. They compared it to the beginnings of the KU faculty ewaste service in that they began with a drop off process and did not get much response, but when they offered to pick up the waste items on location they were overwhelmed with items. Additionally they recommended collaboration with the student senate that could provide us an avenue to promote the event and attain the funding we would need to enter into an agreement with Asset. They also told us that one of the benefits to running this event as students (opposed to the university which is a state organization) is that we would be able to seek out promotions for the events with outside companies; Coke was used as an example as the university already has a relationship in place. Finally they suggested putting a limit on what electronic items our drive will accept. The reason for this is that certain items have an extra charge associated with them because of the difficulty to process. Of particular note are CRT computer monitors and tube televisions which have a lot of glass which must be safely dealt with. There are many methods KU could use to fund an E-waste program on campus. After looking at the laws KU would have to follow, the group first looked at the possibility of being funded by the KDHE Competitive Implementation Grant. When we realized KU would not be able to receive the grant, we started looking at ways to hold an annual recycling drive. The most feasible, long-term goal the E-waste group found was to contract with Asset LifeCycle to manage the drive and to find ways to get KU approval for the drive. 4

6 The laws by which all electronic recyclers must adhere to in accordance with Kansas law are few and far between. According to the KDHE Electronic Waste Management in Kansas Landfills policy, there are no laws that specifically address e-waste disposal. However, all forms of waste must adhere to federal policies. Currently, there are only two federal policies that relate to e-waste. The first does not allow the export of hazardous materials to countries the Toxic Substances Control Act. The second law handed down by the EPA in July 2006, which exempts CRT's from the status of solid waste which makes it easier to recycle. The only state law regarding e-waste is that all electronic waste must be disposed of in an authorized MSW (municipal solid waste) landfill. Due to the fact there were no laws requiring, or even recommending KU to recycle. The group knew we would have to find a way to fund a significant portion of the e-waste collection process. KDHE provides a grant the will pay for all necessary equipment to salvage and process the recycling of electronic waste. In order to receive the grant one must follow a set of regulations developed by KDHE. These regulations include destroying all personal data on the equipment, recording the serial number of each individual pieces of equipment, and have paperwork following every step the piece of equipment goes through until it reaches the end of the cycle. Thus, there needs to be paperwork showing which landfill or storage area the non-recyclable materials ended up in. With further research, the group quickly realized KU would not be able to receive the grant. The grant is offered on a regional basis; meaning, for every region of Kansas, only one grant will be rewarded and they will be responsible for offering cost efficient methods of disposing of e-waste. The regional grant holder for the KU area is Asset LifeCycle in Topeka, KS. With this knowledge, the group decided to pursue a partnership with Asset LC. With previously deciding it would be better to hold an annual drive than to offer a yearlong drop-off, we contacted Asset LC to see what we would need to hold an annual drive, preferable at the end of the spring semester. The representative from Asset told us they would not talk about the terms of a 5

7 contract until we have obtained approval from KU. In our research, a good starting point for receiving this approval would be to get in contact with KU's Student Senate. According to Asset LC's website, there are 4 pricing options you could choose when deciding on a contract. The 4 pricing options consist of fixed price takeout (cost is determined by equipment being recycled and on current market values of the valuable components), shared revenue sale (Asset would sale marketable material on KU's behalf), no-cost option (actually a recurring monthly fee for disposal, recycling and transportation), and a fee based services (disposal of end-of life equipment). With these options in mind, the group decided a fee based service would be best. However, without KU approval to hold the drive, we were not able to further investigate the specifics of this decision. When an annual is held, and because it will be from a student run organization, we would be allowed to provide sponsors for the event. Possible sponsors could include Coca-Cola, they would be allowed to sell soda as students move out (if that is when the event is held) and in turn they would pay the $10 CRT recycling fee. Also, one could contact Commerce Bank to hand out t-shirts and in return they would help pay some of the overhead costs charged to KU by Asset LC. These options have not been investigated but they appear to be viable options based upon the funding KU has received from these companies in the past. The group believes the best option for KU is to hold an annual drive at the end of the spring semester. This drive could be party funded by sponsorships and possible by funds allocated from the student senate. We recommend going through Asset LifeCycle of Topeka because they have received the Competitive Implementation grant and are thereby bound by more stringent regulations in regards to the proper disposal of E-waste. Since the Beginning of our project we had to struggle with how to take on the problem of ewaste. At first one might think that a simple collection process would be the most obvious choice, but after compiling our efforts in just a few short weeks we realized this problem really hadn t been dealt with 6

8 before, and something simple would just not work. Research was important, interviewing/calling those associated with electronics purchasing, and understanding how people deal with their own ewaste. This would ultimately tell us how we would mold our project around what could be done and what was even feasible. Determining what would work became that of awareness as the original proactive collection method was too much to take on with the time allowed, not only that the funding that was necessary for what would be efficient, appropriate and last had a long contract bidding process that soon became something out of our hands and a financial problem. As each member worked on their own part of project, I focused on what could be done here locally if something could not be done on campus in the time allotted. In this day and age people want everything fast, their electronics have to be up to date and reliable, we are living in a fast paced society, this also means we want solutions and answers just as fast. We have all have heard the statement as soon as you get a new computer it s obsolete, so what do people usually do with their electronic waste when they are done with it? A clear census on Campus for this was not fully done (and would be a nice addition) but group members who asked friends and from personal experience know that most people hold on to their older electronics, computers, phones, laptops or they sell them/give them away. The others we can assume throw them away without a moment s notice, because they are not sure what else to do. Educating people on what can be done and what must be done for ewaste is just as easy as tossing it away but where we take it is important. Some local ewaste recycling centers exist right under our noses and will hopefully eliminate the confusing of where to put our ewaste. One of the biggest electronics chains out there is Best Buy and they are likely to exist in most cities. Since they are everywhere there slogan for their ewaste program emulates that; No matter where you bought it, we'll recycle it. They Are responsible recyclers and take care of data security all the way to making sure there is no incineration, land dumping and most importantly exporting to other countries (OECD affiliated), but some fees exist here. Another Big Chain that sells office supplies is Staples. They have a great recycling program for ink cartridges and are one of world s largest in this movement. Since most cartridges last up to 1000 years in landfills and contain 7

9 limited resources like plastic, rubber, steel and aluminum it only makes sense to recycle these small components in a time of scare resources. Staples offers a free shipping label so that people may box up and ship off old cartridges for free and they are sent to a responsible recycler in California. This stands out for students that may be graduating, so that no matter where they are they can get rid of their ink cartridges responsibly for free. The city of Lawrence has a few local companies that help with ewaste as well. One is Sunflower Curbside Recycling, they are a nice comprehensive recycling service and will accept a lot more than electronics but the few that they do are power cords, appliances, ink cartridges and other smaller things. They do offer you to call for other electronics not listed as they will probably help you recycle it, but at cost. Uni Computers is another company and is affiliated with Extreme Recycling that does some local recycling events and has done things with KU in the past. They really help people to see that ewaste is a problem by showing you their numbers collected. In 2009 and 2010 combined they received about 25 Tons of ewaste; they usually boast a collecting of 2500lbs per month. They accept all electronic waste but the bigger items like printers, TV's, computers and monitors carry a small price. The best company out of all for ewaste is Goodwill. They are carried on through local charity so this would be the logical choice. Not only are they helping others they will accept every type of electronic waste you bring. From new to broken they don t mind and they won t charge you a dime it s all free not to mention its all tax deductible! Goodwill works with Dell in the Dell Reconnect Program, which is a program that has diverted over 200 million lbs of ewaste from landfills and on top of all that it helps create green jobs through this process! Dell Reconnect only uses the most responsible recycling methods and helps to refurbish, reuse and recycle all ewaste. KU's Procurement plan deals with purchasing and sometimes part of the sustainability plan. Since most of the Computers used at KU are already bought from Dell, this would be a great area to recycle ewaste. If we can help KU see a good way to recycle their Dells and use Goodwill s services with the use of the Reconnect program then we could help eliminate ewaste here on campus and even create green jobs! Many of the Capstone members and colleagues have already expressed interest in this idea and it 8

10 just makes sense, all that has to be done is to connect the dots that are already there. This would be a nice easy almost turn key step for the next ewaste team or group concerned with sustainability purchasing. I know that KU will continue to pursue recycling goals and sustainability heights as the years go on. Future capstone groups should see this as an exciting opportunity to really help in an area that expands more than any other especially as everything we use becomes more automated by electronics. The effects of ewaste are far reaching and only getting worse. As a student group, we had hoped to come up with a plan that future groups could implement at KU. This plan primarily involves initiating an annual drive at KU, near the end of the spring semester, to allow students the opportunity of disposing of their unwanted electronics instead of throwing them into the garbage. The group also recommended ways that students can dispose of electronics on their own. With the students help, KU can become an electronic friendly campus. 9