For the London Free Press – August 25, 2008

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David Canton – for the London Free Press – February 3, 2007

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The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive of the European Commission came into force in the United Kingdom Jan. 2.

The directive makes electronics manufacturers there legally responsible for the financial costs of recycling and disposal of their electronic waste.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, includes products such as computers, household electronics and cellphones. Electronics contain potentially harmful substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium. There is a problem with how to properly dispose of these.

When electronic waste is incinerated or put in a landfill, these substances can contaminate the surrounding land, air and water. And as the electronics industry continues to boom, more of these products will need disposal in an environmentally sound manner.

A 2004 study by the Nova Scotia Resource Recovery Fund Board estimated that within five years, electronic waste in Canada would grow by 11 per cent.

Although slower than their European counterparts, there have been some attempts by Canadian politicians to deal with this problem.

In 2004, federal, provincial, and territorial environment ministers adopted 12 principles for “electronic products stewardship” to assist jurisdictions in the development of electronic waste disposal programs. In support of these principles, a list of recommended electronic waste products was provided.

However, provincial regulations differ across the country.

Nova Scotia, for instance, has developed a program modeled upon the province’s successful paint recycling initiative. The program requires producers of electronic equipment to take responsibility for their products by paying collection, refurbishing and recycling costs. If not willing to pay these costs, the manufacturers must allow consumers to return electronic waste to them for recycling.

In Ontario, electronic waste disposal has yet to get rolling. The Ontario Waste Diversion Act allows the environment minister to designate waste for which a diversion program is to be established. Electronic waste was so designated in late 2004.

Waste Diversion Ontario, a corporation created under the Act, commissioned a consultation plan for the implementation and operation of such a program. Overall, the study opined it should be producers, not consumers, who bear the cost of electronic waste, but the issue has not yet been definitively dealt with.

If you have electronic waste to dispose of, find out what your municipality offers, rather than just putting it in the trash. The City of London, for example, operates an electronics recycling depot at its landfill.

David Canton – for the London Free Press – January 21, 2006

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The proliferation of technological devices such as computers, cellphones and MP3 players has created a new environmental concern.

In 2002, Canadians threw out about 1.7 million desktop computers, 1.9 million cellphones, two million television sets and 1.1 million VCRs.

The 2003-04 Ontario Environmental Commissioners Report noted the need to develop a program to deal with the growing amount of electronic waste.

Electronic components often contain dangerous substances such as lead, mercury, beryllium, cadmium and arsenic. When phones, VCRs and televisions are incinerated or disposed of in a landfill, these substances can contaminate the surrounding land, air and water.

Environmentally sound disposal of electronic devices is a complex procedure. Each product must be disassembled to retrieve reusable pieces and parts that pose a safety hazard. The remaining glass, metal and plastic components are then recycled according to their material type.

Because of the dangerous nature of electronic waste and the high cost of its safe disposal, some of North America’s and Europe’s electronic waste has been exported to developing countries, either for reuse or scrap.

The Basel Action Network — a Seattle-based organization focused on combating trade in toxic wastes and products — reports about 75 per cent of the exported equipment is not usable or reparable. Most simply end up being discarded or burned — thus merely exporting the problem.

The European Union has dealt with this through the Waste Electrical and Electronic Directive, which establishes requirements for the disposal of all IT and telecommunication equipment, lighting devices, vending machines and household appliances.

All EU countries are expected to enforce the directive this year through domestic electronic stewardship plans. Producers of devices affected by the directive are expected to register with the domestic authority charged with administering the program.

For household electronic waste, the EU directive holds the manufacturer responsible for the costs associated with the environmentally sound disposal of its products.

All new electronic products purchased for commercial purposes will be disposed of at the producer’s expense. Where a business is replacing old equipment, the producer of the new equipment will be responsible for the proper disposal of their customer’s old equipment.

The purchasing business will be responsible, however, where the equipment they are buying does not fulfil the same function as that which they already own. Producers may be allowed, however, to negotiate the cost for electronic waste disposal with commercial clients in their supply contracts.

Canadian politicians are considering following the EU’s lead in establishing electronic stewardship programs.

Alberta is the only province to have tackled the problem. The program — administered by the Alberta Recycling Management Authority — is funded by fees paid by sellers and manufacturers, which range from $5 to $45 a product. The fees cover the cost of collection, transportation and recycling, as well as education, research and awareness programs.

There are also initiatives to reduce the amount of hazardous materials used to manufacture electronics. They include the Sarnia-based Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention.

In Ontario, there are a number of municipal waste-diversion programs that accept electronic waste. The province is developing an electronic stewardship program similar to Alberta’s. Waste Diversion Ontario was appointed by the environment minister in 2004 to create a provincial diversion program for electronic waste.