The National Center for Electronics Recycling Walter Alcorn Consultant and Co-Founder, National Center for Electronics Recycling July 21, 2005 MWCOG Recycling Committee

National Center for Electronics Recycling Mission: coordinate the plethora of initiatives targeting the recycling of end- of-life electronics in the United States and support actions to move towards a national system Mission: coordinate the plethora of initiatives targeting the recycling of end- of-life electronics in the United States and support actions to move towards a national system Manufacturer-led organization – leading companies on environmental initiatives on Advisory Committee Manufacturer-led organization – leading companies on environmental initiatives on Advisory Committee

National Center for Electronics Recycling Advisory Committee Advisory Committee –Canon –Dell –Hitachi –HP –IBM –Panasonic –Philips –Samsung –Sharp –Sony –Toshiba –Thomson

NCER Cont’d NCER Initiation NCER Initiation –Concall in February with over 20 manufacturers –Prominent role at EPA National Meeting – 2 key proposals submitted –Incorporated as non-profit in WV, 501(c)3 status pending –Receiving seed funding from the MARCEE project Advisory Board Advisory Board –Manufacturers, approve projects –Multi-stakeholder project committees

NCER Initial Activities Initial Projects: determined through survey of manufacturers Initial Projects: determined through survey of manufacturers –Multi-State Third Party Organization –Data Clearinghouse –Orphan/White Box –News Articles Multi-State Third Party Organization Multi-State Third Party Organization –Working with existing effort in Pacific NW 9 committed manufacturers 9 committed manufacturers –Assume one or more functions of electronics recycling system implementation in selected states, including Contracting for recycling services Contracting for recycling services Facilitate collection activities Facilitate collection activities Track and report material flows Track and report material flows

Multi-State TPO What are the priority questions that need to be answered prior to TPO formation? What are the priority questions that need to be answered prior to TPO formation? –Liability concerns –Anti-trust concerns –Roles/responsibilities –Use of ESM if contracting for recycling (does TPO need to have certification system?) Multiple TPOs Multiple TPOs –How can they function together (i.e. OR bill)

Example Multi-State TPO Models Unified TPO Unified TPO –Set fee, collect fee, contract for recycling, 1 authorized TPO Limited Function TPO Limited Function TPO –No fee collection, but manages funds, contracts w/recyclers –May not be exclusive to provide services Compliance TPO Compliance TPO –Work on behalf of OEMs in IPR system Logistics TPO Logistics TPO –Coordinate pickups among consolidation points, allocate responsibility among OEMs

Data and Information Data Gathering and Dissemination Data Gathering and Dissemination –Clearinghouse of reports, data, studies –Centralized Data Repository Data collection forms Data collection forms Go to Go to –“How to” documents –National Baseline analysis All accessible through All accessible through

Example Data Collection Forms

Other NCER Projects News Articles News Articles –Collect and send a bi-weekly summary of news articles related to electronics recycling to a wide audience of interested stakeholders

The Orphan-White Box Project Look at existing brand summaries Look at existing brand summaries –Determine possible brand responsibility Goal: improved identification of orphan products and better identification of products from "white box" manufacturers Goal: improved identification of orphan products and better identification of products from "white box" manufacturers Orphan Definition? Orphan Definition? –Usually a waste for which a manufacturer can not be identified or waste for which its manufacturer is no longer in business –Key question: does brand/manufacturer have a successor?

Orphan-White Box Project

White Box definition? White Box definition? –A white box computer is a custom-built computer with name-brand internal components...White boxes are generic computer systems that don't carry any particular brand name –With CA, ME, and MD laws, brand label required –How do we identify and track both for returns and CA ARF collection?

Monitor Brand Share From Florida, NE Staples pilot, Hennepin County

Age Distribution of Products Collected FL DEP

Example from FL DEP

Next Steps for the NCER Follow through with existing projects Follow through with existing projects Provide coordination, research and implementation support on electronics recycling initiatives at the local, state, regional and national levels Provide coordination, research and implementation support on electronics recycling initiatives at the local, state, regional and national levels

Thank You! Walter Alcorn, NCER consultant Jason Linnell, NCER Executive Director