Daily News Friday, July 11, 2008

Beginning next spring, Ontarians will be able to take old computers, monitors, printers and televisions to hundreds of locations across the province thanks to a new electronics diversion program developed by Waste Diversion Ontario.

The plan, approved by Environment Minister John Gerretsen, includes 420 drop-off locations in year one, up from the current 167, and more than 650 in year five. Drop off locations, free to the public, will include charities, municipal depots and recycling companies.

Ontario’s e-waste diversion program will be the first in Canada to set environmental performance targets for collection, reuse, recycling and accessibility. Currently, about 27 per cent of e-waste is reused or recycled, a number that’s set to more than double to 61 per cent by year five.

One of the most important components of the program is that it will manage electronic waste from businesses.

“Ontarians need options for getting rid of their used electronics,” said Environment Minister John Gerretsen. “Far too many computers, printers and televisions, along with their toxic components, end up in landfills and that’s got to end.”

“This is another example of industry and government working together toward a common goal of environmental stewardship,” said Waste Diversion Ontario Chair Gemma Zecchini. “Our plan builds on the producer responsibility programs already in place for Blue Box materials and the hazardous or special waste programs.”

QUICK FACTS

– For the first time in Ontario, industry will pay 100 per cent of the costs of the diversion program. Stewards pay 50 per cent of the Blue Box program, and about 80 per cent of the municipal hazardous or special waste program.

– The costs to manufacturers, brand owners or importers of the products work out to about $13 for a desktop computer and $10 for a TV.

– Ontario households and businesses throw out about 90,000 tonnes of old computers, printers and televisions each year. Best estimates suggest that in five years the amount will grow to 123,000 tonnes, which represents about four million desktop computers, 1.5 million portable computers, 1.2 million monitors, 2.2 million TVs and 1.5 million printers.

– Until the program is up and running in the spring, consumers should call their local municipalities to see what options are available to them for recycling their old electronics.

IC & I and C & D waste targeted

In Canada it’s estimated that about 60 to 70 per cent of wastes are generated by the industrial, commercial and institutional (IC & I ) sector (including construction and demolition or “C & D” wastes). Much of these wastes end up in landfill.

     In Ontario the IC& I waste diversion are governed by the 3Rs Regulations and specifically Ontario Regulation 102/94 “Waste Audits and Waste Reduction Work Plans” and Ontario Regulation 103/94 “Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Source Separation Programs”

(Guidance documents are provided at: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/en/publications/forms/index.php#AuditandReduction)

     Increasing and reinvigorated attention is being paid to these regulations by Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, which clearly recognizes the role that the IC&I need to play in meeting overall waste diversions and goals.

     These regulations apply to large firms and facilities - either those that have a large floor area or high sales.

Regulation 102/94

Regulation 102/94 envisages that businesses that meet threshold size determine the amount, nature and composition of wastes generated. The waste audit itself goes beyond merely sorting through waste and must offer due consideration to how the wastes get produced and how management makes decisions related to eh production of waste. Another parameter that is probably overlooked by most waste generators is an assessment of the extent to which materials and products used consist of recycled or re-used materials or products.

   The waste audit should culminate in the preparation of a Waste Reduction Work Plan. This work plan essentially functions as a planning exercise to maintain and where necessary improve waste diversion. The work plan must include plans with a time-line and measurable outcomes to reduce, reuse and recycle (in that order) wastes as well as noting those responsible for its implementation.

     It’s here where the intended philosophy of process shines through. It is not merely rip through some bags and make up a nice pie chart. Some real thinking and evaluation needs to be undertaken to figure out how real improvements can be made.

Regulation 103/94

Depending on the sector type, different source -separation programs need to be put in place to collect and recycle various wastes. The different requirements reflect the diverse types of wastes that various sectors could generate.

     A source -separation program must include the provision of facilities for the collection, handling and storage for anticipated quantities of source-separated wastes: measures to make sure hat these wastes are collected are removed and that reasonable efforts be made to ensure that full use is made of the program - that is truly serviceable program (as opposed to just lip service).

Enforcement

Since 2006, Ontario’s environment ministry has stepped up enforcement. A 2006 province-wide sweep of waste generators (with a focus on construction and demolition sites) revealed some grim statistics. Almost 93 per cent of those inspected were not complying with Reg. 102 and 103. In 2007, the province hired and additional 10 inspectors to undertake additional enforcement of these regulations. A sweep of a further 235 C & D sites was undertaken with only five of these sites ( or two per cent) in full compliance. Not exactly flying colors.

      Ministry spokesperson John Steele says that these results “speak to a lack of industry awareness. We have a two-prong approach of outreach and inspections to help raise this awareness.”

      Steele continues, “We’re not looking to be punitive: rather, the focus is on getting the industry to understand their compliance requirements, demonstrate their willingness to comply when found to be out of compliance, and to continue to comply moving forward.”

      “Year 2008 will see further inspections, in the spring or early summer,” says Steele “with a look at other sectors covered by the regulations as well as a return visit to C&D sites.” (He made no comment about which sectors will be covered this year.)

      The requirements are quite broad and bigger than would initially meet the eye. It will take some time for industry to catch on and fully comply. Time will tell if this renewed interest will truly get the ball rolling to ensure that IC&I more completely assume their required roles in meeting our collective waste diversion goals. We won’t succeed otherwise..

(NOTE: This article is adapted from one written by Paul van der Werf for the February/March Issue of Solid Waste & Recycling. )

The Plan is likely to be funded through electronics manufacturers and vendors through a new non-profit corporation called Ontario Electronic Stewardship. The total cost is expected to be at least $48 million per year. Recovery of the costs may be possible through an extra charged when electronics are sold.

It is also possible, if commodity prices stay high, that the metal I old electronics could be worth enough to pay for their collection. Many devices contain copper and precious metals such as gold and silver. In a single year, roughly 1600 tons of copper, 35 tonnes of silver, 1.5 tonnes of palladium and 3.4 tonnes of gold could be recovered by recycling 100 million cell phones. These metals are valuable since they can be easily re-captured and have already been refined.                                  It is possible that electronic scrap could be more valuable than traditional scrap metals found in other products like cars. As a result, mining giant Xstrata PLC has become the world’s largest consumer of e-scrap: Teck Cominco is also considering refining e-waste.

If you have any questions regarding E-waste please contact us at lovellassoc@ciaccess.com

Some of the manufacturers that have recycling programs available are:

Apple’s Electronic Recycling Program                                                  (www.apple.com/environment/recycling/nationalervices/us.html)

Canon’s Clean Earth Compaign                                                                                                                      (www.canon.ca/english/index-thecleanearth.html)

Dell Recycling                                                                                      (www1.ca.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/dell_recyling?c=ca&cs=CADHSI&I=en&s=dhs)

HP Planet Partners                                                                                                  (http://h30248.www3.hp.com/recycle/ca/index.html?jumpid=recycle)

IBM Asset Recovery                                                                                                                                                                            (www-03.ibm.com/financing/ca/en/recovery/small/)

Lenovo’s Product Recycling Programs                                            www.pc.ibm.com/ww/lenovo/about/environment/ptb_canada.html)

Lexmark Equipment Collection Program                                                                                                                          www.lexmark.com/un-complicate/sequentialem/home/0,7070,204812589_307451399_0_en,00.html)

Sony style Notebook Trade - In Program                                                                                    (www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/StaticViewstoreId=10001&catalogID=10001&contentpage=../html/trade_in/main.html)

Toshiba’s Environmental Recovery and Recycling Effort                                                                                  (www.toshiba.ca/web/link?id=2200)

Companies can either do a visual waste audit which requires that the waste streams be identified and assessed by visually estimating the percentage of each waste category and then developing a waste reduction work plan to help reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

The second option is a comprehensive waste audit which is a more in depth method where the each waste category is identified and weighed to determine the exact amount being disposed of. This includes both landfilled waste and recycled waste This method is particularly helpful in establishing more comprehensive waste diversion and recycling solutions.

Information collected by the NPRI is included in the national inventory of Criteria Air Contaminant (CAC) emissions. This inventory also includes emission estimates for facilities that are not required to report to the NPRI, and non-facility emission sources such as forest fires and motor vehicles.

Who needs to report to the NPRI?

Under the authority of CEPA 1999, owners or operators of facilities that manufacture, process or otherwise use one or more of the NPRI-listed substances and meet reporting thresholds and other requirements are required to report their pollutant releases, disposals and transfers for recycling annually to the NPRI. For more detailed information on NPRI reporting requirements, consult the NPRI’s most recent Guide to Reporting at www.ec.gc.ca