Posts Tagged ‘e-waste’
Edmonton, background on GEEP
August 24th, 2009 | 
Author: Background on Global Electric & Electronic Processing (GEEP) Inc.
- Edmonton’s e-waste facility is built and operated by GEEP Alberta Inc – a subsidiary of GEEP Inc, an international e-waste recycler based in Barrie Ontario.
- Edmonton’s facility is the first to be built by GEEP Inc in western Canada.
- The facility is wholly owned by GEEP Inc. The City of Edmonton has an agreement with GEEP Inc to process all e-waste collected by the City.
- GEEP is a registered processor under Alberta’s electronics program which is administered by Alberta Recycling Management Authority. Edmonton’s Eco Stations are registered collection sites and the City of Edmonton receives funding support from Alberta Recycling for eligible materials collected.
Plant facts
- The total cost of the facility: $10 million
- Size: 45,000 square feet
- Capacity: Monitors 12,000 tons/ year, computers and other electronics and electrical waste 18,000 tons/ year
- Anticipated 1st year volume: 8,000 tons
- Number of employees: 35
About GEEP Inc.
- GEEP Inc. (Canada) is located in Barrie, Ontario. GEEP Inc is a division of the Barrie Metals Group of Companies with a sister location in Durham, NC.
- GEEP’s mission is to work collaboratively with clients to maximize their return on excess and end of life inventory in an environmentally safe manner with a zero landfill objective.
- GEEP’s clientele include major corporations such as Nortel Networks, Bell Canada, Dell and Sony.
- In February, 2006, the Barrie Metals Group of Companies was named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies.
The Recycling Process
- Examples of equipment at the Edmonton GEEP facility:
- Centrifugal Separation
- Plastics Shredder
- CRT Processing
- Chain Shredder
- De-Reeler
- Baler
Background on Global Electric & Electronic Processing (GEEP) Inc. (continued)
- A variety of modern mechanical processes is used to dismantle, shred and separate components. The metals, plastics and glass will be marketed locally and abroad.
- GEEP has introduced break-through technology that will substantially change the e-waste recycling industry. Non-disassembled electric and electronic products are broken apart by a heavy-duty crusher. Coarse ferrous and non-ferrous parts are taken out automatically.
- Additional hand-picking stations sort out valuable fractions like motors, transformers, stainless steel parts and circuit boards. Many of these electronic products contain mixed plastics.
- These plastics are separated for recycling and for testing in a pilot process at the Barrie, Ontario location to produce a synthetic diesel. The Edmonton Waste Management Centre would be a prime candidate for an operating facility when piloting of this process is complete.
- CRT monitors are also recycled in a separate processing line.
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
Other materials suitable for processing through the plant to recover metals, plastics or other materials of value, including;
- electric motors
- electrical wiring
- containers and container caps
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Electronic Waste Takeback Program
On December 29, 2008, Part 173, Electronics, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), became effective and established a manufacturer electronic device takeback program promoting electronic waste recycling. The manufacturer electronic device takeback program applies to computers and T.V.s recycled by households and small businesses (those employing 10 employees or fewer). It requires all manufacturers selling new computers and televisions in Michigan to register with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and pay an annual registration fee of $3,000 by October 30, 2009. After April 1, 2010, all retailers, including internet, catalog, manufacturer direct, and in-state retailers, can only sell new computers and televisions manufactured by registered manufacturers.
The manufacturer registration required under Part 173 must include specific details on the manufacturer’s e-waste takeback program. The takeback program must be free and convenient for consumers. Manufacturers are required to establish and maintain a website and to otherwise inform consumers about how to recycle the covered equipment. Computer manufacturers are only required to take back devices they manufacture, whereas television manufacturers are required to take back all television brands, regardless of the manufacturer. Annually manufacturers must submit information on the total weight of the covered electronic devices collected by the takeback program, the processes and methods used to recycle or reuse the covered electronic devices, and the identity of any collector or recycler with whom the manufacturer contracts for the collection and recycling of covered electronic devices received from consumers.
Recyclers of covered electronic equipment must also register with the DEQ by October 30, 2009, and pay an annual fee of $2,000. Recyclers must certify that they are recycling in a manner that complies with federal and state laws, including rules promulgated by the DEQ, and local ordinances, and they must employ industry-accepted procedures for the destruction of data. Recyclers must maintain a documented environmental, health, and safety management system that may be audited and is compliant with or equivalent to ISO 14001. Recyclers must also annually report the total weight of covered electronic devices recycled during the previous year and maintain records identifying all persons to whom the recycler provided electronic devices or materials for further processing.
The DEQ is currently working on implementing the newly created law. Updated information and forms will be posted on this page as they become available.
Link:
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585_4130_18096-208087–,00.html
Toxic e-waste exports present pressing problem
July 31, 2008
Washington, D.C. – Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee Chairman Gene Green (D-Texas), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), a founding member of the Congressional E-waste Working Group introduced a resolution today (H.Res. 1395) expressing the opposition of the U.S. House of Representatives to the federal policy allowing toxic electronic waste, or “e-waste” exports to developing nations. The resolution also calls for the U.S. to join other developed nations to ban such trade.
“We have introduced this resolution today to draw Congressional and public attention to this pressing problem,” Green said. “Many Americans are unaware that discarded electronics contain lead, mercury, and other toxics and end up being salvaged under inhumane conditions in the developing world.”
“I am encouraged by the efforts to improve e-waste recycling in the U.S., but progress is an illusion when ‘recycling’ means exporting e-waste to be picked over by scavengers under hazardous conditions,” Green said.
“If we export our e-waste improperly, it can come back to haunt us,” Green said. “Instead, we should create jobs by recycling it properly at home.”
See full article here:
http://www.house.gov/list/press/tx29_green/20080731ewaste.html
Federal bill to ban the export of E-waste, suffers from a big loophole
May 19, 2009
Earlier, I supported a US House Resolution to ban the export of toxic e-waste to developing countries. That resolution was turned into a bill by Rep Greene that I can now no longer support. I understand this bill will be introduced this Friday, May 22. I urge our legislators to NOT co-sponsor this legislation and instead ask Rep. Greene and the other co-authors to strengthen the bill to match the intent of the original resolution – to stop the dumping of toxic e-waste on developing countries not equipped to safely and sustainably handle this material.
The main issue I have with the bill is the last exception to the ban on exports of used electronic equipment or parts. It essentially creates a huge loophole that allows anyone who claims the e-waste they ship to developing countries is “intended” for repair and reuse. I know of many companies in the industry who ship equipment to China where it is clear there is no chance the majority of this equipment would actually get repaired and refurbished. Instead, it pollutes countries that are powerless to stop the tide of these toxins.
For full article, click here:
E-Waste: The Dirty Secret of Recycling Electronics
In Depth October 15, 2008, 7:39PM EST text size: TT
Lax rules and weak enforcement allow scrap companies to profit by sending junked computers, printers, and TVs overseas
Business is booming at Supreme Asset Management & Recovery, one of the nation’s largest recyclers of electronic waste. Inside a cavernous warehouse in the industrial section of Lakewood, N.J., workers in T-shirts grapple with newly arrived truckloads of old computer monitors, keyboards, printers, and TVs: tons of e-waste that contains dangerous lead, mercury, and cadmium. Such major manufacturers as Panasonic and JVC and municipalities like Baltimore County, Md., and Westchester County, N.Y., have paid Supreme to dispose of their digital detritus, relying on the company’s assurances that the work is done safely.
But as the e-waste industry proliferates—some 1,200 mostly tiny companies generated revenue of more than $3 billion last year—it has also become enmeshed in questionable practices that undercut its environmentally friendly image. Next year the volume of e-waste will probably surge. In February, U.S. consumers must switch from analog to digital television service, a move that is expected to result in the mass junking of analog TVs.
“No Accountability”
Seven former Supreme employees told BusinessWeek in interviews that they knew about the company selling large monitor shipments overseas. Despite the sales offerings on the Internet and the accounts of its former employees, Supreme says flatly that it “is not an exporter” of e-waste. The phrasing of its statement leaves open the possibility that others export the materials. But Supreme adds that to its knowledge, all of its buyers behave lawfully.
(page 2 of 2)
Varkonyi, 63, describes himself as a middleman for recyclers who, he says, want to tell their corporate and municipal clients that they don’t export PCs or other potentially hazardous gear: “I buy stuff from other recyclers who then claim that they do not export anything.” Varkonyi won’t name his customers.
Business is booming at Supreme Asset Management & Recovery, one of the nation’s largest recyclers of electronic waste. Inside a cavernous warehouse in the industrial section of Lakewood, N.J., workers in T-shirts grapple with newly arrived truckloads of old computer monitors, keyboards, printers, and TVs: tons of e-waste that contains dangerous lead, mercury, and cadmium. Such major manufacturers as Panasonic and JVC and municipalities like Baltimore County, Md., and Westchester County, N.Y., have paid Supreme to dispose of their digital detritus, relying on the company’s assurances that the work is done safely.
But as the e-waste industry proliferates—some 1,200 mostly tiny companies generated revenue of more than $3 billion last year—it has also become enmeshed in questionable practices that undercut its environmentally friendly image. Next year the volume of e-waste will probably surge. In February, U.S. consumers must switch from analog to digital television service, a move that is expected to result in the mass junking of analog TVs.
For the full article, follow the link below.
Link:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_43/b4105000160974.htm
