KVUE News: Green Right Now
Harriet Blake

E-waste is a dirty word to anyone who cares about the environment. With the constant upgrades consumers get with computers, cell phones and TVs, it’s no surprise that electronic waste is the fastest growing part of American waste. And on top of that, e-waste is often exported to undeveloped countries, where its toxicity is damaging to the those who live there.

Today, with the Feb. 17 deadline to convert to digital television approaching, there’s concern that the number of analog TVs dumped into landfills will grow exponentially. (The U.S. will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and broadcast only in digital. Digital offers better picture and sound, as well as more channels.)

That’s why environmentalists were excited to learn last week that Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba announced that they are offering free recycling programs in all 50 states by the end of January. The announcement came at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba have come around to the product-take-back side,” said Jeff Jacoby, a spokesman for the Texas Campaign for the Environment that was involved in the TakeBack My TV campaign.

“We’re pleased they will have more collection sites than other companies, however there’s only two drop-offs in all of California,” says Jacoby. “That’s unacceptable. People are not going to drive that far. They will take the path of least resistance. So while we applaud these companies for taking a positive step, we also need to see them make an effort to get recycling to more consumers and do more responsible recycling.”

Responsible recycling means that the item goes to a responsible recycling facility. There are a number of companies that have taken the e-steward pledge which means they’ve signed a pledge not to export e-waste overseas and to document where it ends up. There’s been a lot concern that as much as 80 percent of America’s e-waste ends of overseas.

“In Texas, we have three e-steward companies,” says Jacoby. “They are: Intechra in Carrollton and ECS Refining in Terrell (both Dallas suburbs) and Corona Visions in San Antonio. Texas is in the middle of the pack as far as responsible recycling goes.”

When old electronics go to a responsible recycling center, they are first labeled with a bar code. If the item still works, it will be refurbished and resold, says Jacoby. If it works partially, the item is dismantled into components. The working components are then used to build other products. The parts that do not work and can’t be reused, are crushed up and sold as bulk metal or plastic.

“Good recyclers can recycle as much as 98 percent of an item,” says Jacoby.

The United States has yet to sign the Basel Convention which is a global treaty regulating the export of hazardous waste to developing countries. 60 Minutes and Time magazine recently reported that much of exported e-waste ends up in China, where lower-income residents recover the lead by heating circuit boards and burn off bits of gold by using acid. As a result, the residents are exposed to high levels of cancer-causing dioxins, which has been linked to an increase in miscarriages.

As for the upcoming digital television conversion, President-elect Obama is considering having it postponed.

“We’d be extremely pleased if Obama does this,” says Jacoby. “Until there is a comprehensive recycling program in place, a government-mandated planned obsolesence needs to be postponed.”

Such a postponment, he says, will give more time to TV manufacturers to start recycling programs. It will also allow Congress time to pass legislation ending the export of toxic e-waste to developing countries.

Popular Science
Abby Seiff

Almost one year ago to the day, at a CES where energy-efficient gadgets were touted strictly for how eco-friendly they were and not for their budget-consciousness, three of the industry’s giants announced a joint e-waste recycling venture. In tough times it is not only the extras that go but the things that are deemed not strictly necessary in that we did not have them before and we managed more or less. E-waste recycling could have become one of those things, indeed still might, but at least at this year’s show it looks like the foothold it gained in years past is solid.

The biggest booths all boast sections now devoted not simply to the newest line of greener products, but to the company’s e-waste initiatives. As for last year’s recycling venture, the Electronics Manufacturers Recycling Management Company (formed by Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba) has shown reasonable growth.

MRM claims more than 280 locations to drop off consumer electronics, at least one in each state. Sony has a similar program; and each company has at least a few of its own initiatives under way. Toshiba’s Green Program pays you to recycle. Ship them your garbage-bound gadget (made by any company) and they’ll pay you the trade-in value. Panasonic recently launched a nationwide program aimed at increasing the number of recycling drop off points across the country. And Sony says they’re aiming for a “pound-for-pound” initiative—one pound recycled for each pound of electronics created (though, no goal date on that one).

The poor economy, all say, has had no effect on the budget allocated to e-waste management programs. “We’ve made a commitment to this,” says Mark Sharp, [a TK] with Panasonic’s Corporate Environmental Department. “We’re not turning back just because times are tight.”

What the recession might affect, paradoxically, is the previously-predicted influx of junked TVs come February. Slacker or luddite analog-TV owners, could have, presumably, used next month’s digital-to-analog broadcast conversion as an excuse to replace an old television, potentially overwhelming recycling centers unprepared for the glut of toxin-laden sets. Instead, it’s likely many more will opt to hang on to the old set a while longer, adding just a set-top converter. This leaves centers in a better spot, though critics still insist more companies should be taking a proactive stance on recycling TVs. At CES, protesters with the Electronics TakeBack Coalition roamed the street dressed liked zombie televisions, speaking out against a slew of companies who have failed to implement adequate television take-back policies in the face of the signal conversion.

Photo: Abby Seiff, Popular Science

At the Toshiba booth, a British spokesperson marveled over the company’s green initiatives: “In Europe there’s government directives, but in the states it’s far more voluntary.” And indeed, it is commendable how the industry has begun to take it upon itself to ensure that its products are less harmful at both ends of life. But perhaps there’s something to be said for “directives”.

KVBC News Las Vegas
Jerry Brown

As you filled out your holiday list of new electronic gadgets you just had to have, did you give any thought to what happens to old, outdated equipment?

Thursday at CES, the problem of television recycling was being addressed. The emphasis is on cutting edge technology, such as Sony television sets which are eco-friendly and use 40 percent less power.

Outside the electronics show, activists turned the spotlight on another timely question: what happens to old TVs that aren’t recycled? Dressed as analog TV zombies, they paraded down Convention Center Drive en route to a press conference.

“After the digital TV switch, a lot of people are going to say ‘no one’s going to want my old analog TV, I need to get rid of this,’ and we expect to see an e-waste tsunami of electronic trash headed for our landfills,” Robin Schneider with Texas Campaign for the Environment, said.

Some companies, such as Sony, Samsung, and LG, already have recycling programs, and they’re aiming high: they want to have recycling centers nearby for 95 percent of America’s population.

“Ultimately we want to have a recycling center within five miles of at least 95 percent of the American population,” Schneider explained.

Activists targeted companies like Mitsubishi, Philips, JVC, and Hitachi, which, they claim, have yet to address the recycling problem.

There is good news for advocates of recycling. At the CES convention, industry giants Toshiba, Panasonic, and Sharp announced that they are starting a national recycling program for analog TVs.

BBC News
Maggie Shiels

Zombie protesters at CES ’09: Campaigners say more should be done to recycle old TVs

Campaigners are warning of a flood of toxic waste from old TVs and have called on manufacturers to do more to recycle them. The Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) took their protest to the world’s biggest electronics show in Las Vegas.

Protesters, dressed like zombies, were at CES to highlight the potential health risks from dumped TVs.

“TVs are full of toxic materials and they live on, even when you throw them away,” said ETBC’s Barbara Kyle.

The ETBC estimates that monitors and televisions contain an average 3.62kg of lead, which can be very toxic, especially to children.

“An average home has two or three televisions per household,” Ms Kyle added.

“The US Environment Protection Agency says there are 99 million unused stored TVs in the US. They are unused and sitting there stored in the closet.”

TV Tax

The coalition also produced a “report card” to highlight which companies have dealt with TV waste well and which have not. While Sony was top of the list for being the first to introduce a voluntary programme to take back waste, most, like JVC, Mitsubishi, and Hitachi, were given a failing grade for having no scheme at all.

Ms Kyle said manufacturers have a long road ahead.

“We want this industry to step up and make it easy for consumers to find a responsible recycling programme to take their TVs back and not throw them in the trash.”

New York State Assembly member William Colton, chair of the Legislative Committee on Solid Waste management, has suggested a tax on TV makers to hold them responsible for materials going into their products.

“If we can tax soda based on the claim that it is increasing childhood obesity, than we can tax manufacturers for their production of harmful metals in electronics, which, if leeched into the air or water, can cause developmental problems in children if they are exposed,” said Mr Colton.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said this week its recycling program, eCycling, collected and recycled close to 31,000 tonnes of used electronics in 2008, nearly a 30% increase over 2007. That includes computer waste as well as televisions.

EPA under fire

Meanwhile, the US Government Accountability Office late last year lambasted the EPA and electronics recycling efforts in general. It said many American companies were dumping everything from cell phones and old computers to televisions in countries such as China and India, where disposal practices were dangerous to people and the environment.

The coalition’s protest at CES comes ahead of the changeover from an analogue to digital TV signal in America next month, which will lead to millions of analogue TVs will become obsolete.

Ms Kyle predicting they will end up in landfill sites.

“Lots and lots of TVs will be thrown away with the switchover and we want the companies that are trying to persuade everyone to buy new sets to take them back and recycle them,” she said.

“It’s time to take responsibility and follow the lead of the computer companies with free take-back programmes. It’s time to step up and be counted.”