1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap - Civil and ...

Disposition
5.4.1 The Consumer/Commercial Collection and Processing Infrastructure
The infrastructure of third-party recycling companies providing collection and processing for
electronic products has not matured to the point where the volume of product that might
potentially be handled can be effectively managed. This is especially the case for consumer
electronic products. The first difficulty occurs in guaranteeing an adequate volume of product
entering the disposition pipeline to support the growth and increasing availability of PELM
services. Economies of scale are achieved through high volumes of similar materials, yet
collecting volumes of the same equipment is difficult, particularly when collected from
consumers. Manufacturers with voluntary asset recovery sources have high volumes of the same
item, leading to a separate infrastructure for their recovery. It is prudent to consider how to
leverage the strengths of the consumer/municipal solid waste system and the commercial solid
waste services in the future.
From the standpoint of consumer product, significant volumes of retired computer electronics
products are stored in home closets or garages, in part due to a lack of an infrastructure to collect
and transport them to a viable recovery facility. Many municipalities would prefer not to pick up
large volumes of electronic equipment at curbside given their current inability to deal with them.
Also, many consumers believe that used electronic equipment has residual economic value and
are therefore reluctant to dispose of it without recouping some of this perceived value. Finally,
the consumer may simply be unaware of disposition options.
The situation for commercial products is somewhat better. Several commercial electronic equipment
manufacturers have created product recovery programs that allow purchasers to return used
equipment when new equipment is being purchased. Some of these manufacturers have established
internal programs to recycle and remanufacture these products, or recover value of the
constituent parts and materials. There is also a significant number of commercial providers
seeking to serve the electronics industry. However, even commercial owners of electronic
equipment may be reluctant to give up their systems without recovering some of the perceived
value. Furthermore, systems are often held in long-term storage as inventory that might
potentially be needed or sold someday.
Once product flows into the pipeline, the disposition system is still hampered by the lack of an
efficient, affordable, convenient transportation system to take products to a recovery site for
further processing. In the absence of a well-established recycling network, a commercial
electronic equipment manufacturer wishing to collect and recycle its retired electronic products
will likely be faced with high costs of transporting product across the U.S. Recycling fees may
be added to the purchase price of new products, potentially driving consumers across borders and
state lines in search of products not subject to the added costs. In such cases, the marketing
benefits of an environmentally conscious image may not outweigh a potential loss in sales.
Due in part to the difficulty of transporting the retired products from consumers to refurbishers
and/or recyclers, long-term storage of obsolete or unused electronic equipment is another
frequently used alternative to returning retired items to the disposition pipeline. A study by Tufts
University noted that 75% of end-of-life electronic products are in storage [24]. For the
remainder, 14% are landfilled and incinerated, 7% are sold, and 3% are refurbished or recycled.
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