Contributors

Petition: Pass the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (HR 2791)

Wed, 05 Mar 2014 21:34:43 GMT

ECS Refining, one of the oldest and largest electronics recyclers in the US, is a founding member of the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER). CAER represents U.S. companies that believe electronics recycling should be performed securely and sustainably, for the benefit of the American economy. Currently, CAER's primary initiative is to support the passage of the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (HR 2791), a bill with bipartisan support that would create needed jobs, protect America's security interests, and enhance sustainability interests in the electronics recycling industry.

Specifically, the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act aims to:

Ensure responsible electronics recycling in the U.S.
Create tens of thousands of good jobs for Americans
Increase exports of working, tested equipment and commodity-grade material from e-waste
Enhance national security by retaining strategic metals and improving data security

ECS Refining founder Jim Taggart, who has played a pivotal role in pioneering the electronics recycling industry, shares his thought on the proposed legislation.

"This bill promotes the use of domestic recycling and refurbishment services to properly manage electronics that are consumed within the US. It's a win-win scenario because it ensures that used electronics are processed properly before they leave the country, and it strengthens the US economy by creating quality jobs. As a result, we'll see an increase in exports of both recovered e-waste commodities and tested, working devices, instead of hazardous e-waste—which often finds its way to developing regions of the world that lack adequate infrastructure and safeguards to manage this challenging material stream."

As a stakeholder in this matter, you have the opportunity to show your support for RERA (HR 2791) by signing the petition. Spread the work and encourage your communities to show their support as well.

For more information on how RERA will achieve the objectives mentioned above, visit their FAQ page.

Q&A with our CRT Glass Source, ECS Refining

Fri, 27 Dec 2013 23:56:26 GMT

The following blog post comes from a Q&A Session between Fireclay Tile, a San Jose tile manufacturer using recycled CRT glass to make kitchen and bathroom tiles, and ECS Refining Marketing Manager, Mark Van Elderen. This post covers what ECS Refining is all about, the issues surrounding CRT glass, and how this difficult material stream is being recycled.

"Hi Mark! First of all, tell me about ECS Refining"

Mark – "ECS Refining is a downstream electronics recycling and IT asset disposition firm that provides compliant recycling and reuse solutions for a wide range of electronic devices. Customers rely on ECS to responsibly recycle their e-waste and securely manage the sensitive data that comes with it.

ECS Refining was founded in 1980 in Santa Clara, CA by Jim and Ken Taggart. Originally, ECS specialized in recovering precious metals from post-manufacturing scrap and residues from the computer manufacturing industry. As the electronics industry enjoyed rapid growth and manufacturing operations were outsourced to other parts of the world, ECS Refining adapted by shifting its focus to recycling post-consumer electronics, or what many people refer to as electronic waste or e-waste. This includes computers, laptops, printers, phones, networking equipment, flat screen TV’s and monitors, and yes—CRTs.

From the beginning, ECS Refining’s mission has been to provide responsible recycling solutions that recover reusable resources in a manner that protects workers and the environment. As an e-Stewards Certified recycler, ECS adheres to a strict “no landfill, no export” policy by recycling 100% of the material we receive at our state-of-the-art domestic recycling facilities."

"What is a CRT device?"

Mark – "The CRT has been the primary display technology used in televisions and monitors for the past 80 years. Think of the bulky, old style TV’s and monitors with the thick glass screens – they all contain a CRT or cathode ray tube. The screens that we are accustomed to staring into are the front end or faceplate of the tube."

"What is in a CRT device?"

Mark – "Essentially, a CRT device is made up of a glass vacuum tube with three electron guns that deflect electron beams onto a screen to create images. The glass vacuum tube consists of three different types of glass: the panel, the funnel, and the frit. The different types of glass come into play in the recycling process, so I’ll come back to that later. The CRT tube is also usually housed in a plastic (or sometimes wood) casing which also contains a steel frame, a printed circuit board, a copper yoke and wiring."

"Why are CRTs being replaced by flat screens?"

Mark – "CRTs have become an obsolete technology over the past decade, replaced by flat panel displays (such as LCDs) which are lighter, thinner, more energy efficient, and have higher picture quality. In addition, advances in technology have allowed prices of flat panel displays to fall significantly over the past 5-7 years. That is why we’re seeing CRT televisions and monitors entering the waste and recycling stream on a massive scale."

"Why is the CRT crisis getting so much attention now when these devices have been a part of the electronic waste stream for decades?"

Mark – "The CRT crisis has been exacerbated by the fact that traditional downstream markets for CRT glass have either dissipated or changed significantly.
Historically, one of the most reliable downstream solutions for CRT glass has been glass-to-glass recycling, a process by which CRT glass is recycled to manufacture new CRTs. But with the demand for new CRT televisions and monitors plummeting, industry experts are predicting that it will no longer be a viable option within the next few years. Today, there is only one glass-to-glass CRT processor, and the cost of doing business with them has increased significantly.

Another downstream solution that has diminished in recent years is lead smelting. The CRT glass can be melted in a lead furnace and the lead can be extracted and sold as a commodity. However, due to an abundance of other secondary feedstocks (other sources of lead-bearing material streams) there are only a few lead smelters that are accepting CRT glass and their capacity does not meet the recycling industry’s high-volume demands.

As a result, many recyclers are irresponsibly stockpiling CRT glass in massive quantities, either because they don’t have access to the current viable downstreams or because they are hoping for a more cost-effective solution to present itself. An industry report produced by Transparent Planet estimates that 660 million pounds of CRT glass are being stored at locations throughout the US."

"Where do you get most of your CRT waste?"

Mark – "ECS serves as an e-waste recycler for companies like consumer electronics manufacturers as well as IT departments of Fortune 2000 enterprises. Our best customers are enterprises who are committed to environmental sustainability. ECS also serves as the downstream recycler for non-profits, environmental service providers, waste haulers, landfills, and other recycling companies who provide convenient e-waste collection services to the public."

"What is the ECS process for recycling CRTs?"

Mark – "Recycling CRTs is probably the most unique process within our operations because we don’t utilize a shredding system.
First, we manually remove the plastic shell of the CRT monitor or TV. Next, we release the vacuum by removing the electron gun, copper yoke and wiring. ECS utilizes multiple downstreams for the remaining glass tube that require different preparation processes. For downstreams that require clean, lead-free glass, a proprietary separation technique is applied to liberate the 'panel' from the leaded 'funnel' and 'frit.'"

"Can you please touch on the different steps taken by ECS to clean the CRT?"

Mark – "ECS sends only separated and cleaned “panel” glass to Fireclay that complies with the Department of Toxic Substance Control’s (DTSC) requirements.

After the 'funnel' is removed from the tube, the phosphor powder that coats the inside of the tube is vacuumed off. Next, the tube is put through a proprietary separation mechanism that removes the 'frit' from the 'panel'. Then, the panel goes through a series of inspections to verify that it has been completely liberated from the leaded glass fractions. Finally, the clean panel glass is crushed, boxed, and shipped to Fireclay. The remaining leaded glass is shipped to the other downstream processors mentioned above.

This process is remarkable because our separation and cleaning process is capable of effectively and efficiently producing a product that is safe to use for a wide variety of applications."

"What will happen if we do nothing about CRTs?"

Mark – "If the recycling industry isn’t willing or able to develop and invest new technologies and processes for recycling CRT glass, this material stream could end up in landfills as a wasted resource contaminating the environment.

The bottom line is that it’s important for companies like ECS and Fireclay to work through these challenges to develop sustainable, beneficial applications for CRT glass. ECS is thrilled to have a partner whose goals are aligned with ours and we look forward to supporting this initiative moving forward."

The Key to IT Asset Disposition is Breadth of Service

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:00:19 GMT

Organizations have several options when it comes to phasing out internal IT assets. Some companies just throw their old electronics in the dumpster, even though it's irresponsible and in some cases illegal. Today, most businesses choose to recycle or resell their IT assets with the purpose of recovering residual value through the appropriate disposition processes. There are thousands of vendors that offer these IT Asset Disposition services, and it's important to understand the various parts that make up the entire ITAD solution, as well as who is actually providing them.

End-of-life electronics recycling is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle, as it encompasses the physical dismantling/shredding of electronic devices and the subsequent separation of the resulting materials by type. End-of-life recycling helps alleviate the demand to extract new resources from the earth by recovering reusable materials from products that have already been manufactured. This process is attractive when you compare it to the alternatives such as dumping hazardous electronics in landfills or shipping them to third world dumpsites where they pose significant environmental and health risks. End-of-life electronics recycling is ideal for organizations in which environmentally sustainable initiatives are a priority, specifically in dispositioning obsolete IT assets with no other residual value.

However, end-of-life recycling by itself isn't sufficient for most organizations phasing out IT equipment. Many organizations require detailed asset reporting that typical end-of-life electronics recyclers do not provide. Also, a great deal of the IT assets which organizations are phasing out are not necessarily obsolete, and can be converted into a significant revenue stream when resold into secondary markets. But remarketing IT assets has its own risks. IT assets that contain sensitive data or still have asset tags can represent a major liability if they are not properly sanitized. Solutions that address these data security and value maximization issues are commonly referred to as IT asset management services.

Interestingly, very few of the IT asset management companies also perform end-of-life electronics recycling. This means that they handle and resell the valuable assets, and they ship the remaining obsolete electronics to an end-of-life recycler. Unfortunately, as assets are transferred from vendor to vendor, transparency decreases and risk increases.

So how does an organization determine the optimal solution for maximizing the value of their decommissioned IT assets while mitigating downstream liability? The answer is to utilize a single vendor that provides ALL of the components of the electronics disposition process. ECS Refining is the only company that specializes in providing both end-of-life and IT asset management/disposition services on a large scale. Other vendors may have a core competency in one side of the business but they subcontract the other services to third parties.

ECS Refining is the oldest electronics recycler in the U.S. with over 32 years of experience and expertise in precious metals recovery, electro mechanical shredding and separation, IT asset management, data erasure, and remarketing. Working with a single vendor like ECS Refining ensures that your IT assets are handled and processed properly within a secure chain of custody, regardless of whether they're recycled or remarketed. So if you're tired of working with multiple vendors to handle the complete disposition of your IT assets, or if you want assurance that your IT assets are being dispositioned properly, contact ECS Refining today.

Deciphering CA CRT Regs: Consumer Fees Halved

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 01:06:50 GMT

There has been a lot of buzz about the recent emergency CRT Regulations in California. The DTSC has announced that, effective October 15, CRT (or Cathode Ray Tube) devices are eligible to be discarded in Class I landfills if a recycler proves that no other recycling option is feasible.

Naturally, environmental groups, recyclers, and concerned citizens all want to know what these new regulations mean and how we will be affected. Does landfilling these lead-containing devices, which has previously been prohibited, pose environmental and health risks? Will finite resources that could have otherwise been recovered (such as plastics, steel, and copper) be wasted as a result? For electronics recyclers, what constitutes proof that recycling options are not feasible? And will recyclers continue to be compensated by the state for recycling CRTs, even if "recycling" equates to dumping them in landfills? There is a lot of confusion, but one thing is certain - current CRT legislation paints a very unclear picture - reminiscent of the obsolete devices it was designed to regulate.

There is no doubt that stakeholders have a right to be concerned, but one issue doesn't seem to be getting any attention at all. There is an upside that has emerged out of the recent regulations: Californians will be paying less when they purchase new TVs and monitors.

As many of you know, California consumers bear the burden of funding the state electronics recycling program. When you purchase a new TV or monitor, you also pay a recycling fee of $6, $8, or $10 depending on the screen size. This money goes into the Covered Electronic Waste (CEW) program that reimburses authorized recyclers for properly managing the disposition of old electronic devices. This unique (and often criticized) program differs from other states' recycling programs in which the manufacturers bear the financial burden. However, the recent changes in California CRT regulations have cut the consumer fee in half, reducing it to $3, $4, and $5.

This reduction in consumer fees is most likely due to a budget surplus (or a projected surplus) in the state recycling program. The shrinking downstream markets for CRT glass (which prompted the DTSC's decision to allow landfill disposal in the first place) have also led to fewer recyclers submitting claims through the CEW payment program. With less money flowing out of the recycling program, the state had to decrease the funds flowing in. Thus, the reduction in fees charged to consumers.

Although this may seem insignificant in comparison to the fallout of allowing CRTs in landfills, it's something positive to take away from these regulations that have been the cause for so much confusion and frustration. You may recall that California retailers were enraged when the fees were initially introduced. Similarly, many consumers were opposed to the idea of paying for a service that was of no tangible consequence to them. Now, consumers and retailers can let go of their grief - or at least half of it. A 50% fee reduction is good news when you consider the fact that the electronics manufacturers are the ones that have to bite the bullet in other states.

But don’t get too excited. Those of you who are thinking about saving a few extra bucks on electronics this holiday season are going to be disappointed. According to CalRecycle, the reduction in consumer fees will not take effect until January 1, 2013. So if your budget is tight this year, you may want to refrain from buying that new flat screen for Christmas and wait until the Super Bowl instead.

Hope Services Celebrates Earth Day Year-Round With E-waste Events

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:23:00 GMT

For many people, last weekend marked the climax of environmentally-focused efforts and initiatives. In the wake of Earth Day, we’re hearing inspiring stories about this year’s green activities, including educational events at schools across the world, college students rallying for a sustainable future, organized tree-plantings and trash clean ups, and much more. But nothing is more inspiring than organizations dedicated to environmental stewardship year-round.

Hope Services, an organization that provides comprehensive services to more than 2,500 individuals with developmental disabilities, also collects e-waste from communities across California during the entire year. The proceeds generated from e-waste collection help fund the non-profit’s efforts while providing a much needed service – responsible electronics recycling. Hope Services is hosting several e-waste recycling events over the next few weeks, including an event in Monterey on April 28, events in Capitola and Santa Clara on May 5, and an event in Sunnyvale on May 12. For more info and a complete list of Hope Services’ e-waste events click here.

So now that Earth Day has passed, don’t lose your motivation to be green! Recycle your unwanted, obsolete electronics responsibly at one of these events or go to http://myecollective.com/ to find a year-round drop off location near you!

Jim Taggart's Comments on the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:55:00 GMT

What is the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling?

The Coalition for American Electronics Recycling represents U.S. companies (recyclers, enterprises, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other businesses) which embrace the reality that electronic recycling should be performed securely and sustainably, for the benefit of the American economy.

The Coalition is committed to growing an essential American industry with a proven capacity to manage the excessive volume of e-waste generated within our borders, creating good jobs and expanded trade. Another key purpose of the bill (HR 2284 / S1270) is to prohibit the export of certain types of hazardous, non-working electronics and e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries whose citizens are dealing with unsafe landfills and suboptimal situations where citizens are de-manufacturing e-waste in their own back yards.

What is happening is that the U.S. has an enormous e-waste problem. The U.S. is the largest innovator of electronic technology in the world. However, this also makes Americans the largest users and subsequently generators of e-waste in the world. New electronics now seem to have a useful life of only a year or so, so the e-waste problem is going to get worse before it gets better.

Unfortunately, the U.S. electronics recycling industry lacks a robust domestic infrastructure—and the jobs that come with it—because of unrestricted and unfair trade in electronic scrap with developing countries.

ECS Refining along with coalition partners is pushing the “Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, HR 2284 / S1270 which promotes fair and expanded trade in electronics. This enables American recyclers to rationalize new investments in plants and hire U.S. citizens to support a critical and growing American industry.

Stay tuned for more comments from Jim and Coalition progress!

Do you know where your unwanted electronics waste goes? Maybe it’s time to know the truth.

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:44:00 GMT

Now is the time to take action against the global problem of shipping electronic waste overseas according to the article “Electronic waste refining could be big business of the U.S.” posted on the website of The Guardian, a respected UK business and recycling news site. The US Environmental Protection Agency claims that 438 million new consumer electronics were sold in America during 2009 and it has been estimated that 80% of the e-waste accumulated ends up in a landfill domestically or outside the US.

This is a waste of valuable precious materials that could otherwise be extracted and refined back to their purest form for new products. Did you know one ton of circuit boards contains about 500 grams of gold? Unfortunately, consumers, businesses, and municipalities are throwing money away by not taking advantage of responsible recycling. And, the bad news is we still don’t understand the full effects this has on the environment.

The solution is to educate US citizens on this growing global problem and work with ethical e-Stewards Certified ® companies like ECS Refining. You can help change the shape of what matters most to you, our country, and the rest of our planet. Make sure you know the facts about ethical recycling and that you, your cities and schools, and local businesses work with recyclers that ensure in no electronics are sent to landfill or sent overseas.

ECS Refining Readies Nation's Largest Electronics Recycling Plant

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:04:00 GMT

It's been just three months since we announced the acquisition of our 260,000 square-foot industrial facility in Stockton, California. You can read our initial blog post announcement here. In today's post, part of a continuing series of posts about the creation of our new electronics recycling plant, we take a look at the progress we’ve made and the phases that lie ahead.

The realtor hands you the keys and says “congratulations!” That moment always marks the end of one phase and the beginning of another. This was certainly the case for us back in March as we took ownership of 2222 S. Sinclair Avenue, Stockton, California. Stockton is an ideal location for our primary West Coast electronics recycling operations. We’ve just been given the official green light by the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control to begin operations, which means we can now start Phase 2 of our move-in. Let’s review the progress thus far…

A great location and ideally suited to its new role

The Stockton facility was a former metal-stamping plant for the automotive industry and is superb for its intended function as the primary receiving and processing facility for the country’s largest and most efficient electronics recycling operation. It’s centrally located for all our customers located in California, Nevada and Oregon, and has excellent highway access. Additionally, we even have railway access, which will be extremely useful once we have the plant operating at full bore. Speaking of which, the plant is big enough to take us right through to 25 million pounds of e-waste per month, with all operations and storage under one roof. There’s nothing like this here in the United States and we’re very excited about the potential it offers for our OEM, VAR, and recycler customers and partners.

Initial preparations

As soon as we took possession of the Stockton plant, we began Phase 1 of the project: readying the plant for its most important occupants — people. Due to its previous life as a manufacturing facility, the building itself is well-suited to its new role as a recycling plant. It has excellent office spaces, a large break room, locker rooms with showers and all the amenities you’d expect in a modern office. The plant area itself is also well above what you might expect in the recycling industry. It’s completely enclosed and well insulated, which means our employees on the lines will be working in a safe, well-lit environment. It also has upgraded electrical and compressed-air systems, and even massive overhead industrial bridge cranes. After moving out all of the remnant foundations of its previous machinery, we began work on upgrading the receiving dock to make it secure. This is extremely important for our enterprise and VAR customers, since this is an area where all in-bound electronics, some of which contain sensitive information, will be stored prior to processing.

Next steps: getting the lines up and running

In our next blog post, we’ll take a look at Phase 2 of the project, in which we ready the CRT and CPU dismantling operations.

An Interview with ServoTerra co-founder, Kevin Scanlon

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:53:00 GMT

We recently announced that we’ve acquired ServoTerra, adding IT asset disposition as a value-added service that we now offer to our OEM, VAR, enterprise, and recycling customers. You can read the news release here. ServoTerra is an interesting example of a company that’s carved out a niche for itself in the fast-growing market for delivering specialized services in the cloud, using the hugely popular software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. ServoTerra was founded to address the gap between IT asset management (ITAM) and IT asset disposition (ITAD), providing asset owners with efficient, proactive Asset Life Cycle Management. I sat down with Kevin Scanlon, one of the founders of ServoTerra, to learn more about ServoTerra and understand how he sees the company fitting into the range of services offered by ECS Refining.

Tell us how ServoTerra got started

"I was running a collector/recycler business and saw the significant cost of building out warehouses, staff and infrastructure needed to support IT equipment consignment and collections programs for my enterprise clients. I realized that these costs would need to be passed on to clients as service charges, and was looking for ways to reduce that overhead to boost the ROI of our ITAD program. We wondered how technology might be used to solve that problem, which led us to connecting with an IT expert who told us that a cloud-based application approach would provide an ideal platform for our solution."

What’s the fundamental problem that ServoTerra addresses?

"ServoTerra bridges what we see as a major disconnect between asset management and asset disposition, and addresses a value-robbing problem that any CFO will quickly grasp. An IT asset may be fully depreciated with zero book value but, in the vast majority of cases, that asset still has significant market value. ServoTerra enables any business to maximize the value of this asset through a private, auction-based disposition process and thus create a revenue stream of “found cash” — and potentially a new life for the asset. The way ServoTerra does this is unique: we give the asset owner insight into the valuation of their assets and control over the downstream process of disposition."

Why is the cloud the best way to solve this problem?

"Using the cloud to provide people with access to fast and efficient computing resources is a relatively recent idea – Salesforce pioneered this approach for CRM products, and ServoTerra is actually based on the Salesforce Force.com cloud platform. By offering ServoTerra as a service that runs in the cloud, we can make it available to anyone with a Web browser — without any local requirement for complex software or special hardware. What this means for our customers is that they have access to a modern IT asset disposition platform, based on the leading enterprise cloud platform. It offers some big advantages such as unlimited, real-time customization, built-in workflow and approvals, powerful analytics, enterprise-class security, reporting, and much more."

Tell us how ServoTerra changes the way IT assets are managed and disposed

"ServoTerra is essentially an asset end-of-life planning application and e-commerce exchange that redefines conventional IT asset disposition methods by transparently connecting the owner of the asset directly with the buyer. It operates rather like a B2B version of eBay, offering businesses a trusted and environmentally compliant marketplace to realize the true market value of their used capital assets. What’s also interesting is that it features a closed-loop, multi-market model that lets asset owners proactively decide whether the asset will be redeployed internally, re-marketed, or (if it has no market value) simply consigned directly to a recycler."

How can ECS Refining customers take advantage of ServoTerra?

"ServoTerra will operate as wholly owned subsidiary of ECS Refining and will be utilized by our two resale divisions, United Datatech and Outback Equipment. However, we’re also making it available as a service to companies that want to maximize the value of IT assets that require reassignment or disposal. One interesting benefit is that the platform can be deployed internally so that a large enterprise can manage their internal asset reallocation – effectively as a private marketplace."

How can Outback and UDT customers learn more?

"They should contact their sales representative, who can familiarize with the platform and the solution. Demonstrations are available in person or via WebEx."

To learn more about ServoTerra, or ECS Refining's asset management and remarketing solutions, don't hesitate to contact us today!

Letter from CEO Jim Taggart

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 11:50:00 GMT

Dear Valued Customers,

ECS Refining has hit a major milestone, and I wanted to make sure you're among the first to know about it. As you may be aware, last year the volume through our various refining and recycling divisions nearly doubled. As a result, our Santa Clara headquarters in California is essentially bursting at its seams. We now occupy many buildings in and around our Reed Street location, and I can't see any slowdown to our growth in the near future.

We've been preparing for this and have been looking around northern California for a suitable location that could house our electronics recycling business. I'm pleased to announce that we've just completed the acquisition of new premises in Stockton, located about halfway between our current location and the state capital, Sacramento. More importantly, Stockton is easily accessible from several major transportation arteries —Interstate 5, Highway 4, and Highway 99— and provides a great centralized processing location for the population centers of the western United States.

The new plant gives us ample room to grow: it's 263,000 square feet on 26 acres. We've begun the process of relocating our electronics recycling operations to Stockton, with an initial go-live date of around May 1, 2011. Once operational, it will serve as our western regional e-waste processing facility (serving customers in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington), with the capacity to handle more than 25 million pounds of materials per month. We have big plans for this plant; it will represent the state of the art in electronics recycling, ensuring we can offer our customers the best possible service while advancing our commitment to environmental stewardship.

We have a phased transition plan in place, which essentially means the way you work with us will not be disrupted. Meanwhile, our Santa Clara facility will continue to operate as our corporate headquarters, and the recycling of solar panels, precious metal recovery and hazardous waste processing will continue at this location. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Mark Robards.

We will be talking more about the new Stockton plant, here on the blog — so please check back in for the latest.

Thank you for your business with us - you're the reason we're growing and it goes without saying that I am very appreciative of your relationship with us.

Sincerely,
Jim Taggart
CEO, ECS Refining

Why "The Story of Electronics" Is a Must-See Holiday Film

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:06:00 GMT

Earlier this month, a terrific short-form documentary went viral on the internet. "The Story of Electronics" has now been viewed over 12 million times online, making it one of the most widely viewed environmental-themed short films of all time.

The Story of Stuff Project, the organization formed to leverage and extend the film's impact, worked closely with the Electronics TakeBack Coalition to develop and distribute The Story of Electronics. ETBC is a coalition effort launched in 2001 to promote green design and responsible recycling in the electronics industry. ETBC works to protect the health and well being of electronics users, workers, and the communities where electronics are produced and discarded by requiring consumer electronics manufacturers and brand owners to take full responsibility for the lifecycle of their products, through effective public policy requirements or enforceable agreements.

We think it's great news that the documentary has seen such wide distribution; this raises public awareness of the environmental and human harm posed by electronics waste, and just might get us all thinking a little harder about our own contribution to the problem as we are tempted by the latest crop of shiny, new electronics this holiday season.

You can watch the film right here.

You can learn more about "The Story of Electronics" in this excellent article by Chris O'Brien of the San Jose Mercury News: Waste not, want not CHRIS O’BRIEN COLUMNIST San Jose Mercury News 28 Nov 2010 In the opening moments of the new Web video “ The Story of Electronics,” I found myself nodding in recognition as host Annie Leonard held up a tangled mess of electronic gadget chargers. Lurking in my basement at home is a similar monstrosity of unused...read more...

H.R. 6252 Responsible Electronics Recycling Act: A Step In The Right Direction

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:40:00 GMT

If you conduct just a small amount of research about e-waste and e-waste recycling you are bound to find a picture of an underage child in a developing nation, covered in soot, standing in the middle of a toxic landfill, and holding a CPU that undoubtedly came from a collection event held somewhere in the United States. These children and their parents are mining precious metal from our unwanted electronics using acid baths and other unsafe methods. The result is an environmental and health disaster beyond comprehension.

Earlier this month, two lawmakers, Reps. Green and Thompson, of Texas and California respectively, introduced a bill that aims to legislate the handling of e-waste; in particular, the conditions for its export. Known as the “Responsible Electronics Recycling Act,” H.R. 6252 provides the regulatory framework to monitor the export of used electronics, prevents the export of hazardous waste to developing nations, and prevents detrimental impact to the environment and public health. The regulatory framework is consistent with policies most other developed nations have adopted through international treaties.

Underpinning the bill is a key statement: “Although e-waste (consumer electronics such as TVs, cell phones and computers) is the fastest-growing waste stream in the country, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently has no framework to monitor the removal, disposal, and export to developing nations. Over 3 million tons of e-waste was generated by the United States in 2007.”

The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act will create a new section of 1976’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RICRA) to prohibit the export of restricted e-waste to developing nations, and does discriminate between the export of intact products that can be reused: “While tested and working equipment can still be exported to promote reuse, other consumer electronic equipment, parts, and material derived from them that contain toxic chemicals could not be exported to developing nations.”

Legislation is one way to help prevent this on-going challenge our industry faces. Other groups like the Basel Action Network, a well-known NGO, aims to mitigate the impact on developing nations through enforcing compliance on domestic recyclers, who must commit to their e-Stewards pledge and certification. OEMs and large enterprises are committing to strict environmental health and safety requirements from their downstream vendors. Meanwhile, consumers are beginning to ask the question: “what makes a responsible recycler?” (See our previous blog post).

While this bill will help raise the awareness of electronics recycling, we hope that it will have the muscle to support all the other initiatives in a smart and efficient way. It is clear that it is going to take a combined approach to stop the trafficking of our unwanted electronics and this step is a necessary part of that enforcement.

Here at ECS Refining, we view H.R. 6252 as a positive sign that America is finally taking this problem seriously. Our approach reflects the thinking of these lawmakers because we believe that proper recycling means processing e-waste domestically, using the latest technology and know-how, and not sending it to developing nations. That’s exactly why we set up our new ecollective e-waste recycling initiative, and how we approach the recycling and refining of the many other hazardous materials we handle very day at our plants around the country.

Sure, when it comes to getting this bill passed, the devil will likely be in the details and we are likely to see those details get ironed out over the next few years. But for now, we’re optimistic about the potential it offers to ensure all recyclers take this matter very seriously. Contact us here at ECS Refining if you’d like to discuss how we can help you with your recycling challenge.

ECS Refining Launches Ecollective: A Consumer Electronics Take-Back Initiative

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:10:00 GMT

E-waste is the fastest-growing category of solid waste. It’s a tsunami that’s gathering momentum, directly in step with the rapid innovation in consumer and industrial electronics that we witness every year. How big? Well, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just added the disposal of e-waste to the list of the agency’s top four environmental priorities. It’s right alongside issues such as climate change, air quality and access to clean water.

As a nation and as a planet we have to solve the e-waste problem. We’ve been trying; here in California we have the SB20/SB50 e-waste take-back legislation that restricts what can be dumped into landfills, and provides a mechanism for diverting CRTs from the e-waste stream. Other states have taken differing approaches to address the e-waste problem. These are all steps in the right direction.

But they are not enough. State programs are a patchwork quilt of different approaches. Industry “best practices” aren’t clearly defined. The high cost of recycling is perpetuating shipment of e-waste overseas. And, worse, consumers are still confused about what can/should be recycled, and where to take it.

We think there’s huge room for improvement. We believe that by working together, we can address this challenge and provide a solution for households and businesses that is free, convenient, safe for the environment, and secure.

That’s why, today, we’re launching ecollective. The ecollective initiative aims to provide a convenient consumer drop-off location within 10 miles of most households in the United States for safe and secure recycling of electronics. For industry participants, it provides a framework that makes it possible for us all collaborate and make e-waste recycling dramatically easier for consumers.

We’ve set four top-line goals for the program:

Educate through awareness. Through integrated public outreach, marketing and advertising, we will help consumers understand what e-waste is and why its proper disposal is so important to our communities, our country, and our planet.
Provide a choice. By giving consumers a choice to do the right thing with their e-waste, and convenient locations to choose from, we can move e-waste from homes and businesses — and away from landfills.
Foster best practices. ecollective is designed from the ground up to ensure that all e-waste material is handled by a recycling company dedicated to environmental integrity and data security. We want to partner with industry stakeholders who share that vision.
Make it a “win” for everyone. Consumers have a convenient and safe place to recycle, local businesses thrive, stakeholders have a practical solution for their e-waste requirements, and together we divert deadly material from our landfills.

We’ve designed ecollective with clear integration points so that industry stakeholders — collectors, electronics manufacturers, retailers, and city municipalities — can accomplish the goals, objectives and requirements for their respective e-waste take-back programs.

Read the press release for more about the ecollective initiative.

This month, we’re introducing our industry partners to the ecollective initiative. Next month, we’ll launch it to consumers and businesses.

We invite you to join us now and make ecollective the best program for e-waste recycling.

In an upcoming post, I’ll talk more about how ecollective can directly help any companies, organizations, and municipalities that handle e-waste.

To give you an idea of what we have in mind, watch this video:

Making Headway: E-Waste Makes Headlines and That’s A Good Thing

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:58:00 GMT

E-waste has been featured in several prominent news stories in recent weeks, as mainstream media catch on to just how big the problem has become. Whereas, only two years ago, newspaper articles focused on the issue from the consumer's perspective — remember all those articles about "what is e-waste?" — now we're seeing some smart reporting on the larger impact that e-waste is having in our communities, our nation and our planet.

Here's a selection of articles I clipped in just the last two weeks:

Environmental Leader: EPA Chief Cites E-Waste as a Top Priority EPA administrator Lisa Jackson: “The electronics that provide us with convenience often end up discarded in developing countries where improper disposal can threaten local people and the environment. EPA recognizes this urgent concern and will work with international partners to address the issues of E-waste.

Resource Recycling: Interpol investigates e-waste crooks ...Interpol, the world's largest international police organization with 188 member countries, has launched a major initiative to investigate the illegal trade of scrap electronics. The organization’s Pollution Crime Working Group is assessing the potential link between organized crime and e-waste exporting...

New York Times: A Global Graveyard for Dead Computers in Ghana …In Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, the capital of Ghana, adults and children tear away at computers from abroad to get at the precious metals inside...

National Resources Defense Council: End the Dumping of e-waste into the Developing World: ...The dumping of electronic waste, which was a very small fraction of our concern when we negotiated the Basel treaty, is now a huge hazardous waste problem in the developing world, contaminating water supplies and land with toxic heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs and acids, and putting some of the world’s poorest populations at great risk...

We think it’s a good thing that we’re starting to see these conversations occurring around the world; they’re important progress toward formulating realistic solutions to some tough problems. We also believe that unity and better collaboration is needed among all the players who participate in the e-waste ecosystem – from manufacturing through to all end-of-life processes.

Here at ECS Refining, we're doing what we can to address the problem at its root: the handoff by e-waste collectors to recyclers. We believe that the controls and criteria proposed by the Basel Action Network are the best way to stem this problem, and we've already moved to implement checks and stringent criteria into our selection of who we accept e-waste from.

ECS Refining has cared about these issues for years. E-waste is now only one of our lines of business — but e-waste is what got us started and we continue to push hard to ensure e-waste is treated with the same respect as any other hazardous waste. That’s why we ensure all our e-waste recycling operations are handled domestically, and require no overseas shipments of e-waste. We also uphold the core principles of the e-Stewards certification program.

This week, we’re launching an industry-wide initiative that will make it easy for any organization that handles electronic waste to participate in a recycling program that adheres to these tenets. Our program will influence change from the collector level, and we'll be looking to integrate this program with existing and emerging legislation. Stay tuned!

CRT Glass: What’s All the Fuss About?

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:20:00 GMT

There’s been immense media interest in e-waste in recent months. While it’s true that we’d not want to see any of it in our landfills (in fact, the less of anything that heads into the landfill, the better), one of the major concerns is a principle component of the cathode ray tube (CRT) – leaded glass.

Like many recyclers, glass recycling is a huge part of what we do. It is a complicated process that requires special equipment, training and controlled methods. I sat down with Bill McGeever, VP of operations here at ECS Refining, to get some background on what we’re dealing with, and how it’s processed.

Why is CRT glass classified as a hazardous waste and a threat to the environment?
CRT glass typically contains heavy metals, including lead. When CRT glass containing lead is disposed of in a landfill it can break down through compaction. Then, when it comes into contact with rainwater, these heavy metals may leach out into the groundwater.

What's the difference between panel glass and funnel glass?
Panel glass is the viewing surface and is typically made of a barium strontium glass, whereas funnel glass is the glass that extends from the viewing surface toward the cathode ray guns.

Does all CRT glass have lead in it?
In general, the funnel glass contains lead in an oxide form. How much/percent? Sources vary on this but most suggest between 20-30 percent by weight.

What needs to be done to dispose of CRT glass safely?
The glass must be kept separate from other glass types and can be cleaned and used to produce new tubes. Many states have rules about where CRT glass can be shipped or how it may be processed.

Are the same set of concerns applicable to flat-panel displays? Or are other hazardous elements present in these displays?
Flat-panel displays typically do not have leaded glass. There are four types of flat-panel displays: plasma, LCD, DLP and the latest LED LCD. Plasma displays often have a leaded “frit” that attaches the two glass panels to each other. LCD displays have a small, cold-cathode florescent lamp that provides back lighting, and which contains mercury vapor. DLP displays may have mercury-vapor lamps. LED LCD technology is still reasonably new and has yet to appear in the e-waste stream in any significant quantity.

Take us through the process... what's involved when separating lead from glass in a CRT?
That’s really a question for a metallurgist or furnace operator, but the short version is the glass is placed in a furnace and heated to a molten form. Then a “reduction” process converts the lead oxide to metal so it can be poured off; what remains is largely lead-free “slag” glass that can be reused in numerous glass molding businesses. Most of the downstream destinations currently in use are not going to separate the lead from the glass. Most of them are either processors who clean the paint coatings off the leaded glass in preparation for a CRT furnace operator, or they are a CRT furnace operator. These furnace operators re-melt the leaded glass in a furnace and mold new funnels — either for their own assembly process or for sale to other CRT manufacturers. California regulations allow only certain destinations and even regulate what the glass will be used for. Only glass-to-glass or glass-to-lead processes are approved at this time.

How many companies can perform this service?
There are two lead smelters that I know of: The Doe Run Co. in Missouri, a primary lead smelter; and ECS Refining in Texas, a secondary lead smelter. There are numerous CRT furnace operators worldwide; Samsung-Corning in Malaysia and Videocon in India are the most well known.

How is the process regulated?
Each generator, processor and furnace operator is subject to state and local regulation, depending on their location, and in many cases the import or export of material is regulated.

Once the glass and lead are separated, what are the downstream outlets for each material? Lead is used in many products and alloys, but lead–acid battery manufacturers are the single largest consumer of lead — as much as half of worldwide production. Glass may be used in many industries, depending on its content. Bottle glass typically has a low tolerance for metals including lead, while plate glass for windows may be more tolerant.

ECS is constantly searching for better solutions to handle the materials that come to our facilities, especially for materials that contain hazardous materials In a future post, we’ll get Bill’s assessment of what lies ahead for CRT glass processing, and what this means for the industry.

Funding Fraud: California's SB20/SB50 Program

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:46:00 GMT

Recently, the Sacramento Bee published a thorough investigative piece by reporter Tom Knudson that takes aim at the problem of fraud in California’s SB20/SB50 e-waste recycling program. You can read it here:

http://www.metalscoalition.com/Pioneering_Ewaste_Gone_Wrong_July2010.pdf

The exposé identifies the primary weakness of the program: fraud. One of the major requirements to get reimbursed for the collection and recycling of devices by the program has become the very place where some participants are finding ways to take advantage of the system for financial gain.

While the story does make the point that the SB20/SB50 program has been a resounding success when measured by how much hazardous e-waste has been recycled, mostly it questions the execution of the program by recyclers and collectors and its oversight by the regulatory agencies.

As one of the largest recyclers in the state, it makes for sobering reading. Certainly, we in this industry have heard the stories of claims for reimbursement to recyclers that have been denied by the state, along with the fraud perpetrated by some collectors. But this might be the first time that the problems inherent to the program have been exposed to the general public.

As intended by the state of California when it passed this legislation, the monies paid to recyclers are used for recycling display technologies, namely cathode ray tubes (CRTs). It takes 90-120 days for the state to review any claim for reimbursement. Meanwhile, recyclers such as ECS Refining have collected the material, recycled it and paid the collectors their share. Financing that program is no small financial commitment. So when part of our claim containing source logs from one of our collectors is denied by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the process takes longer and in some cases we never get paid for what has already been collected, recycled and paid for.

It’s important to note that recyclers bear the burden of that cost. To better manage this problem,we have implemented a dedicated internal administration department focused on implementing preventive measures and audits. Prior to working with any Approved California Collector or Handler we put it through a pre-approval process that includes reviewing prior source logs,checking with the state to understand their history with source logs, and requiring them to submit source logs prior to shipping anything to us.

Once a collector is approved, we continue the audit process with two levels of ongoing review. The first is a “state compliance review” in which a team reviews all submitted logs to make sure they are filled out completely, accurately and don’t show patterns of fraud. The second level is for validity. At this stage we are performing the same review process as the state by calling the residents on the source logs to see if they can verify their participation in the program.

Given all that we do to prevent fraud, the article by Knudson begs the question: what more can we in the e-waste recycling industry do to prevent fraud? Should recyclers have to invest in full-time administration team to detect fraud, finance the collection and recycling of covered electronics, and then police the program when someone commits fraud? It seems that, irrespective of whether it was intended, the program has forced recyclers to do just that… a job that we believe should reside at the regulatory level.

At ECS Refining, we believe the California SB20/SB50 program has a firm basis for its continued existence, and has proven to be the most successful model for supporting the diversion of electronics from local landfills. But, all parties will only take it seriously if regulatory agencies participate to ensure compliance. If the state is unwilling to set precedent for fraudulent behavior there will never be any real change. We hope that the change is coming soon.

A New Beginning: End-of-Life Services

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 08:44:00 GMT

It’s a fact that we live in a society that’s only just starting to realize the importance of re-using, recycling, and repurposing. Here at ECS Refining, we’ve been thinking about it a while longer than most companies. What started as a company focused on assisting Silicon Valley high-tech companies with their post-manufacturing scrap residue has, some thirty years later, flourished into a full-service recycling and end-of-life services company.

More recently, ECS Refining has broadened its capabilities by applying a mixture of physics, science, entrepreneurialism and insight honed from years of experience to develop a methodology that extracts the maximum value from materials and equipment while minimizing our impact on the environment.

Ultimately, it is one big balancing act.

If there’s one persistent activity that keeps us up at night, it’s figuring out how to economically process more types of materials so we can not only divert from landfills, but also put back into the system material that would otherwise need to mined or extracted from the planet. What sorts of materials do we process? It’s a long list that continues to grow, but it breaks out into three basic categories:

Electronic equipment
• Consumer electronics and IT equipment
• Lab and test equipment
• Enterprise IT equipment

Industrial equipment
• Aircraft/jet engines
• Solar panels
• Manufacturing equipment

Hazardous wastes
• Photo waste
• Solder dross
• CRT glass

When we receive material we assess the best combination of services: recovery and refining, asset management, and/or resale/remarketing. Our overarching mission for any material is to refine it down to its most pure form so it can be prepared for use as a raw material in manufacturing, while abiding by stringent standards for environmental integrity and data security.

Optimizing for a sustainable outcome

Because we work with such a wide variety of materials from so many different sources, and have strong connections with partners both upstream and downstream, we’re adept at applying our skills and knowledge to formulate smart and planet-friendly solutions for our customers. By working with them, we design a refining process that solves their needs, unlocks value in problematic materials, and reduces the demands on our natural resources.

In future posts we’ll dig into topics such as recovery and refining, asset management, and resale processes, which speak to how we are able to build custom solutions for our customers.

Carey Levine
Director of Marketing

Join Us: The ECS Refining Blog

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:51:00 GMT

It seems only fitting that a company, born in Silicon Valley and intimately involved with end-of-life services for electronics, should join the conversations about recycling and related matters on the blogosphere. Just as the business is accelerating and changing the recycling and end of life services industry is evolving to support those rapid changes. As categories of waste multiply, and our interest in managing them properly becomes of increasing interest to consumers, businesses and stakeholders, so we have are moving quickly to ensure we offer the industry’s best set of solutions to these issues.

Thirty years ago, when Jim and Ken Taggart founded ECS Refining as an electronic scrap and solder dross recycler, no one ever imagined that the company would be helping to process the wide variety of materials we handle today, or that we would become leaders in discovering cutting-edge ways to service the recycling industry.

We got where we are today by being open to new ideas, asking questions, examining the landscape around us, considering the future and sharing our wisdom with those in our industry. We know that in order to serve the demands we face today for recycling solutions, we need to become part of the larger conversation and learning process because it through that kind of collaboration that we are all able to grow, make a difference, and profit (both literally and figuratively).

This blog is intended to be a forum for us to join the industry dialogue, share opinions, tackle the tough issues, examine trends, and get your feedback. We will be diving into hot topics around electronics, industrial equipment, and hazardous wastes — including industry best practices, legislative programs and advanced processes. As a company with operations that span recovery and refining, asset management, and resale and remarketing, we’ve built a solid bench of talent that we will be inviting to share their expertise in these areas.

We hope that you will find this blog informative and insightful — if not also entertaining. And because we know that these days everyone consumes information differently, you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter, where we will be sharing not only our blog posts, but posting shorter insights into what we think is relevant and exciting.

Will you join us?