Agency: Environmental Quality Notification requirements:

Notify the Waste and Hazardous Materials Division when electronic equipment from residents is collected, stored, processed, or dismantled, in excess of 1,000 pounds, on-site at any one time. Submit the form EQP5205at least two weeks prior to conducting the activity.

Memorandum: Regulation of Electronic Wastes(September 20, 2002)

For recyclers collecting electronics from anyone besides residential clients: Notify as a large quantity universal waste handler when handling 11,000 pounds or more of electronics and other universal waste collected from entities other than households and obtain a site identification number.

Notifications may be done by applying online through MiTAPS   or by mailing in the form EQP5150 . There is a $50 application fee. To check if a site identification number has already been assigned to a collection site, go to the Waste Data System   and select advanced search. It is recommended to search using the street number in the address field and zip code in the postal code field. If you need assistance looking up a number or filling out the application, call the Environmental Assistance Center at 800-662-9278.

The following Michigan regulatory guidance documents contain specific information about electronic waste. 

• Electronic Equipment  (pdf)
• Electric Lamps  (pdf) (cathode ray tubes are considered electric lamps in Michigan)
• Universal Waste  (pdf)

Since “recycling” can mean different things, discuss if your recycling operations would be subject to the industrial storm water program with the Water Bureau District Office. See the industrial storm water program information including sample Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) and links to the storm water operator certification.

Water Bureau District Office Staff Contact List

US EPA Responsible Recycling Practices published October 30, 2008. This publication is a set of guidelines for accredited certification programs to assess electronics recyclers’ environmental, worker health and safety, and security practices. Since January 2006, EPA has facilitated a multi-stakeholder group to develop this document.

U.S. EPA approved CRT recycling exporters. This website contains the list of U.S EPA approved exporters of CRTs destined for recycling per the CRT rule.

Link: http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585_4130_18096-148783–,00.html

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The Global Electric and Electronic Processing Inc. (GEEP) recycling facility is the newest addition to the Edmonton Waste Management Centre.

Using cutting edge processes and equipment, the 45,000 square foot facility is expected to process 30,000 tonnes per year of old computers, televisions, and a wide range of electrical and electronic waste materials for recycling.

Processes and equipment used at the state of the art facility include:

• Centrifugal Separation
• Plastics Shredder
• CRT Processing
• Chain Shredder
• De-Reeler
• Baler

The facility is built and operated by GEEP Alberta Inc – a subsidiary of GEEP Inc, an international e-waste recycler based in Barrie Ontario. It is the first e-waste recycling facility to be built by GEEP Inc in western Canada.

GEEP is a registered processor under Alberta’s electronics program which is administered by Alberta Recycling Management Authority.

What can be recycled at GEEP?:

• small kitchen appliances
• audio and video equipment and televisions
• personal care appliances (hair dryers, shavers, etc. )
• other electrical household tools (vacuums, irons, floor polishers)
• electrical power tools
• telecommunications equipment – telephones, cell phones
• computer and home office equipment
• computer components
• photocopiers, fax machines and similar office electronics
• industrial electrical tools
• specialty equipment containing electrical motors, switches and other components with material value

A worker disassembles a computer monitor at the new GEEP electronic and electric waste recycling facility.

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Toxic Materials in Electronic Products

Over 1,000 materials, including chlorinated solvents, brominated flame retardants, PVC, heavy metals, plastics and gases, are used to make electronic products and their components—semiconductor chips, circuit boards, and disk drives.

A CRT monitor can contain between four and eight pounds of lead alone. Big screen TVs contain even more than that. Flat panel TVs and monitors contain less lead, but use mercury lamps. About 40% of the heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in landfills come from electronic equipment discards.

These toxicants are released during the production, use and disposal of electronic products, with the greatest impact at end-of-life. Harmful chemicals released from incinerators and leached from landfills contaminate air and groundwater. The burning of plastics at the waste stage releases dioxins and furans, known developmental and reproductive toxins which persist in the environment and concentrate up the food-chain.

CRT’s: What Are the Health Risks?

Lead

The health effects of lead are well known; lead exposure causes brain damage in children and has already been banned from many consumer products.

Mercury

Mercury is toxic in very low doses, and causes brain and kidney damage. It can be passed on through breast milk; just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury can contaminate 20 acres of a lake, making the fish unfit to eat.

Cadmium

Cadmium accumulates in the human body and poisons the kidneys.

BFR’s

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) may seriously affect hormonal functions critical for normal development. A recent study of dust on computers in workplaces and homes found BFRs in every sample taken. One group of BFRs, PBDEs, has been found in alarming rates in the breast milk of women in Sweden and the U.S.

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