Toxic gear is piling up in landfills, but
recycling could help
By Norm Alster in Boston with William Echikson in
Brussels
After The Morning News in Florence, S.C., outfitted
staffers with new computers, managers tried to find takers for the old
gear. Not expecting much for their old computers, they thought it would
be a breeze to unload the nearly three tons of equipment. But after eight
months of trying to sell, donate, or recycle the discards, Assistant Systems
Manager Karen Robertson-Kidd found just one viable destination: ''They
ended up in a landfill. Nobody wanted them.''
Increasingly, U.S. landfill and incinerator facilities
are the last stop for electronic waste. But computers, cell phones, TVs,
and other electronic equipment are laden with toxins that can leach into
groundwater or produce dioxins and other carcinogens when burned. Ted
Smith, executive director of the nonprofit Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition,
warns that, other than pesticides, ''I can't think of anything in the
household that would present more of a problem than a computer.''
The problem is finally getting official notice.
After seven years of discussion, the European Commission is expected to
propose new legislation on June 8 that will require manufacturers to collect,
recycle, and dispose of their electrical and electronic products at the
end of their life cycles. The EC is also expected to propose a timetable
for the phaseout of some of the most toxic materials used in electronic
products, such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and some types of flame-retardants.
The EC's proposals could cost as much as $18 billion
to $27 billion to implement, estimates the European industry group Orgalile.
The electronics industry is especially worried about the phaseout provision.
Intense lobbying has been directed at eliminating, or at least extending,
any phaseout timetable on the grounds that there are just no alternative
materials.
OBSOLESCENCE. Whatever actions are taken in Europe
could well influence the course of events in the U.S. IBM, for example,
is one of several computer manufacturers that have signaled willingness
to accept end-of-life responsibility for their products in Europe. An
internal IBM task force is also studying the feasibility of taking back
its own PCs -- albeit at consumer expense -- in the U.S. The task force hopes
to identify ''the most economical way to dispose of computers in an environmentally
sound way,'' says Diana Bendz, director of environmentally conscious products
at IBM in Somers, N.Y.
All this may come as a surprise to those who thought
the Information Age would spawn a cleaner environment. Computers, cell
phones, televisions, and other electronic gear are chock-full of toxins.
Already, the five pounds or more of lead in computer screens and TVs represents
40% of all the lead in U.S. landfill. Each year, a billion pounds of plastics,
about one-quarter of them polyvinyl chloride that produce cancer-producing
dioxin when burned, are dumped with electronic scrap.
The problem is about to get much worse. Computer
replacement cycles are contracting as new models are introduced faster
and faster. A study by the National Safety Council predicts that by 2007
there will be almost 500 million obsolete computers in the U.S. In four
years, estimates Carnegie Mellon University, there will be 70 million
computers in landfills.
The EU is not the only government entity to try
tackling this looming mess. The Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway have already
passed laws making manufacturers responsible for the end-of-life recycling
of their own goods, while in the U.S., there have been some scattered
local initiatives. Hennepin County, Minn., which includes Minneapolis-St.
Paul, last year recovered more than 50,000 computers from residents. Massachusetts
recently banned the disposal of cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) in landfills,
and New Jersey, North Carolina, and other states are now evaluating options
for electronic-product waste.
It is ironic that in an industry where growth is
so widely tracked, the most vigorous growth sector of all is the obsolete
computer. As recently as 1994, buyers held on to their computers from
four to six years, according to the National Safety Council. But by 2004,
the council estimates that the average life of a computer will be just
two years, and few are reused. In 1998, for every PC recycled, more than
16 new ones were sold, according to the National Safety Council.
The remaining machines pose hazards whether they
are dumped or incinerated. ''We've learned that when you put these kinds
of materials into landfill, they eventually leach into the groundwater,''
says Smith of the Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition. Incineration releases
dioxins into the atmosphere, along with mercury and cadmium, according
to the European Union.
It's not minuscule amounts of toxins, either. The
Environmental Protection Agency says lead can make up as much as 25% of
the weight of monitors weighing anywhere from 15 to 90 pounds. The EPA
already considers CRTs hazardous waste, says David Jones, a director in
the agency's San Francisco office. However, a ''residential'' exemption
allows users who produce less than 220 pounds of CRT waste monthly to
dump them in the trash -- thus protecting any business that throws out as
many as three or four machines per month.
The Europe-wide proposed directive, however, would
be much tougher. Particularly worrisome to manufacturers is the controversial
mandate that manufacturers must phase out many toxic elements used in
production. ''It includes a total redesign of the manufacturing process.
You have to rebuild your factory to get rid of lead,'' says Val Herman,
director of government affairs for International Computers Ltd.
DELAYING TACTICS. Opposition has already pushed
back the deadline for phasing out the use of toxins from 2004 to 2008,
and Europe's Association of Household Appliance Manufacturers recently
petitioned for further postponement to 2010. Their claim: ''For many applications,
alternatives to lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium,'' and certain flame-retardants
''are not currently available.''
Some major manufacturers do support other elements
of the European proposal, however. IBM, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and five
other manufacturers have declared their willingness to accept financial
responsibility for end-of-life recycling. And many manufacturers see the
need for a Continent-wide regulation. ''We welcome a harmonized solution
in Europe. We can't afford to have 15 different systems,'' says Luigi
Meli of the Appliance Manufacturers group.
In Europe and the U.S., the chief issue is with
computers sold to individuals and small business, since large computer
makers typically have take-back programs for their corporate customers.
Compaq Computer Corp., for example, takes back 200,000 computers a year
in North America. IBM's Bendz emphasizes that no conclusions have yet
been reached about a consumer take-back program, but says that IBM may
be able to break even on a program that would require U.S. consumers to
pay $25 on disposal.
Environmentalists argue that the costs of detoxifying
computers should be included in the purchase price. One way or another,
it appears that computer makers -- and users -- around the world will soon
have to start cleaning up after themselves.
Business
Week June 12, 2000