1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap - Civil and ...

Disposition
provision in other instances, which allows material to be collected, stored, and transported to an
appropriate recycling facility without having to be managed as a hazardous waste.
Rhode Island: The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management won a competitive
grant from the EPA’s Jobs through Recycling Program in September 1995 to create a selfsustaining
disassembly, processing, and recycling center for appliances and electronic equipment
in the State of Rhode Island. The project partners include: Government (U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency-New England, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and
Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation); Industry (Citizens Bank); and Not-for-
Profits (American Plastics Council, University of Rhode Island/Industrial and Manufacturing
Engineering, Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Bryant College, Northeast
Recycling Council, Northeast Resource Recovery Association, and the Empire State Center for
Recycling Enterprise Development). The project partners are working together to attract a
facility operator and in conjunction provide consulting services to develop a viable business plan.
By coordinating efforts of key project partners with various expertise, this project will establish a
long-term infrastructure for diverting a valuable resource from the solid waste stream while creating
jobs. The project time period is anticipated to be approximately two years, at the end of
which a Demanufacturing Facility would be fully operational in the State of Rhode Island by a
private sector operator. The ultimate goal of the Demanufacturing facility is to process electronic
equipment from both the commercial and consumer sectors of the solid waste stream.
Texas: The State of Texas has begun informal discussions with MCC, the University of Texas,
and several leading recycling organizations to consider incentives for establishing an integrated
recycling facility in the central Texas region. Several agencies have expressed their interest,
including the Texas General Land Office, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission, the Texas Department of Commerce, the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and the
Texas Governors Office. The intent of such a pilot is to establish the economic viability of
electronic products disposition by simultaneously optimizing reuse, refurbishment, recycling, and
recovery. The facility would also serve as a collaborative development and demonstration site
for improved recycling technologies and techniques.
5.5.4 Survey of Foreign PELM Programs
As the discussion evolves regarding disposition schemes for computer systems, it is valuable to
review the approaches proposed or taken in various regions. Brief descriptions are given of plans
in Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Japan. 14 The European programs
represent industry’s ideas in each country that are based on several years of discussions
and experience on how to best manage the recycling of post-consumer goods given the
constraints imposed by government. Whether voluntary or mandated, each model was spawned
as a result of legislative activity or in an effort to preempt mandates. Although the undertaking in
Japan is not a direct result of legislative pressure, the relationship between government and
industry have led to a cooperative pilot project.
Austria: In response to a 1993 directive from the Environment Ministry, Austrian industry established
a private collection and recycling system for refrigerators, freezers, and air
14 For a more detailed description of the programs in Europe, please refer to Appendix J.
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