How the federal government dumps half a million worn-out computers and countless other electronic devices every year may help expand the $5 billion electronics recycling industry.
The Environmental Protection Agency and General Services Administration are considering new rules of engagement for contract recyclers as they start requiring agencies to dispose of old computers, monitors and other electronic waste.
Recycling electronic products in the U.S. since 2006.
The agencies said they will decide next year on which third-party certification to apply to electronics recyclers under the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship, which was unveiled this summer.
Green recyclers and traditional scrap haulers are at odds over the certification standards, one of which would ban exporting computer trash, along with other restrictions. Both sides agree that the U.S. agency mandate could transform the industry.
“By some estimates, the federal government goes through 10,000 computers a week,” GSA Administrator Martha Johnson said in an Aug. 9 statement. “Requiring that each of those machines end their useful lives at a certified recycler could mean big business.”
$5 billion industry
The U.S. electronics recycling industry employs 30,000 people and accounts for $5 billion in annual revenue, said David Daoud, personal computing analyst for International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. That amount could double if consumers follow the lead of federal agencies and companies, he said.
Jeremy Farber, founder of Chantilly-based PC Recycler, agreed. “When the federal government starts requiring something,” he said, “it trickles down.”
Kenny Gravitt, chief executive at Global Environmental Services, a recycler in Georgetown, Ky., that reclaims copper and aluminum from circuit boards and other components, said the entire U.S. economy would benefit from the export ban.
“I would like to see an edict come out that there will be no more exporting of electronic waste,” he said. “When that happens and the GSA opens up the playing field to qualified and serious recyclers, it’ll create jobs.”
Gravitt’s three-year-old company has added 100 employees to process electronics for companies including Japan’s Canon and Konica Minolta Holdings, attracting the GSA’s Johnson for a visit last month, he said. The company plans to pursue a GSA multiple-award schedule contract for environmental services.
The E-Stewards program, developed by environmentalists at the nonprofit Basel Action Network, bans exports of electronics waste to developing countries and focuses on getting end users to recycle, Daoud said.
A less restricting standard, called Responsible Recycling, or R2, is promoted by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a trade association. Industry considers R2 more business-friendly because it factors in business operations, revenue and profits, in addition to a company’s environmental record, for certification.
“Both certifications are essentially driven by competing interests, competing philosophies,” Daoud said. “The two are bound to clash, and that’s creating confusion among consumers.”
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