Electronics

· Establishing Producer Take back for all Electronic Products
· Advancing the largest producer take back campaign in the US
· Defining procurement standards for green electronics
· Creating tools and standards that leverage greener electronic products
· Supporting policies that leverage safer chemical and material use in electronic products

It is well recognized that over the past few decades, high tech manufacturers have produced millions of electronic products that have provided greater efficiency, convenience, and productivity to human endeavors. Unfortunately, what is less known is that production, use and disposal of electronic products has a broad range of adverse environmental and human health impacts.

The increasingly short life span of electronic products and the design for disposal have led to a waste crisis at the end of life.

• Only 15% of electronic products are collected for recycling. In most states it is still legal to throw toxic electronic products into the trash


• By 2009, 250 million computers will be obsolete.


• 70% to 80% computers dropped off at recycling points end up as hazardous exports to China and other Asian and African countries.

The good news is that with global corporate and government commitment to adopt systematic changes like producer take back of products, green design and increased reuse and recyclability of materials, we can solve this problem. CPA is working to:

1. Establish producer take back for all electronic products
2. Promote green design to improve the ecological footprint of electronic products

Producer Take Back

When producers are financially responsible for taking back their products at the end of life, there are incentives to re-design products and make them more sustainable throughout their life cycle.
CPA is working on the following initiatives to establish a producer take back system for electronic products that promotes green design and a more efficient use of resources:

1. Establishing producer take back for all electronic products
2. Advancing the largest producer take back campaign in the US
3. Defining procurement standards for green electronics

Establishing Producer Take back for all Electronic Products

Reasons why producer take back is the preferred system for electronic waste:

• The cost of managing discarded computers and other electronics falls on taxpayers and local governments. In the worst case, most electronic waste is being exported to China for uncontrolled and hazardous waste recycling.


• Responsibility for product waste streams encourages manufacturers to adopt sustainable product design because they become accountable for take-back, recycling and reuse of their materials.


• It is more cost effective and safer to design products that are nonhazardous, able to be upgraded, and are more durable, recyclable and reusable — or in the case of bio-based materials, safely composted.

Resources:

To learn more about producer take back, click here to download CPA’s Extended Producer Responsibility Tool Kit.

To better understand the link between producer take back and green design, please download CPA’s factsheet: Producer Responsibility for Product Take-back can Promote Eco-Design.

Advancing the largest producer take back campaign in the US

Clean Production Action is on the steering committee for the U.S. based Electronic Take Back Coalition (ETBC), which is working to establish producer responsibility as the preferred end of life treatment of electronic products.

Results of this successful campaign:

• Over half of the US states now have, or intend to have, full producer responsibility for e-waste.


• Companies, such as HP, Dell, Apple and Sony are committed to full take-back of e-waste in the US and some globally.


• Many leading recyclers have signed a pledge not to export hazardous materials illegally to developing countries and develop better practices for domestic recycling.


• Nationally, the House Science and Technology is addressing the problem of electronic waste. Click here to see EBTC’s testimony on The Exploding Global Waste Crisis and Why Green Design is the Solution.

Click here to learn more about the campaign.

Defining procurement standards for green electronics

This past year, CPA joined the board of advisors for the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), which registers computers and soon to be other electronic products based on their environmental performance. The standard uses 51 criteria to evaluate products across their life cycle. Products listed on EPEAT are more energy efficient, have less toxic substances and will be taken back by producers at the end of life. Success of EPEAT shows that there is market support for producer take back and green design:

• The EPEAT green computer procurement system ended 2007 with over $60 billion in contracts.


• The federal government is mandated to buy at least 95% of its computer products through EPEAT.


• Over 500 products are listed on the registry.

New standards will likely be developing for printers and other imaging devices, servers and televisions. Click here to learn more about the products registered on EPEAT (www.epeat.net).

Green Design

Chemical and product take back regulations, consumer demand for green electronic products and advancements in green engineering and green chemistry are creating opportunities to improve the ecological footprint of electronic products.

CPA is supporting the following initiatives to promote green design in the electronic sector:

1. Creating tools and standards that leverage greener electronic products.
2. Supporting policies that leverage safer chemical and material use in electronic products.

Creating tools and standards that leverage greener electronic products

Applying the Green Screen for Safer Chemicals to chemicals of concern in the electronic sector: The Green Screen is a scientifically robust chemical screening tool that allows companies to select chemicals that are inherently safer from an environmental and human health perspective. Click here to learn more about the Green Screen and our analysis on safer flame retardants

Defining a deeper shade of green for sustainable plastic use in electronic products. Coming soon, CPA will be releasing a new report in the winter of 2008 that profiles the environmental performance of prominently used plastics in electronic enclosures and defines life cycle criteria for sustainable plastics.

Establishing strong purchasing standards through EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool): CPA sits on the advisory board of EPEAT. We are working to strengthen the criteria used to assess the environmental performance of products throughout their life cycle. Currently it is the only product assessment tool that allows purchasers to give preference to products that are more sustainable throughout their life cycle. EPEAT only registers computers, but it is our goal to expand EPEAT to include televisions, and other high volume electronic products. To learn more about EPEAT, current environmental performance criteria and products registered, click here (www.epeat.net).

Establishing and implementing ETBC’s Green Design Initiative: Informed by the principles of green engineering and green chemistry, CPA and partners in the Electronic Take Back Coalition developed green design principles that are intended to improve the ecological footprint of electronic products. Click here to review the principles. Click here to download CPA’s factsheets on Green Chemistry.

Additional Resources:

Download CPA Factsheets:

• Apple’s “elemental” approach restricting chlorine and bromine is a milestone achievement in environmental protection


• How Producer Responsibility for Product Take-Back can Promote Eco-Design (2007)


• Progress towards PVC and BFR Elimination by Leading Electronic Manufacturers


• Electronic Waste: A Public Health Issue


• Deca-BDE: Human Health and Environmental Concerns

Greenpeace’s Green Electronics Guide which evaluates the environmental performance of leading electronic companies on a quarterly basis.

Supporting policies that leverage safer chemical and material use in electronic products

With the emergence of new regulations on high hazard chemicals, many leading electronic companies have invested in the precautionary approach to chemical management to reduce liability and better ensure safer chemical and material use in electronic products.

1. Increasing regulations on halogenated chemicals (bromine and chlorine based chemicals), heavy metals and other high hazard chemicals:


• REACH—a new chemical policy that requires public disclosure and safer substitution for high hazard chemicals, including those that persist and accumulate in the environment and or are linked to cancer and reproductive harm.
• US and EU chemical regulations (Washington and Maine have banned the use of certain brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in electronic products, Norway and Sweden are looking to ban a broad range of BFRs including TBBPA the largest BFR in commerce).
• European Union’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) which currently bans certain applications of mercury, lead, certain brominated flame retardants (PBDEs, PBBs), and cadmium, but is open for additional substance in 2008/2009
2. National Electronics Sustainability Initiative that establishes a federal program to provide incentives and resources for green chemistry and engineering developments in the electronic sector.


• Establishes a National Clean Electronics Research and Development fund that supports the rapid development of electronic products that are cleaner, safer and more sustainable throughout their life cycle. For more information, click here.
3. State and federal based Green Chemistry Initiatives like California’s Green Chemistry initiative that will close data gaps, require restrictions on substances of high concern and promote green chemistry research and development.

Resources

CPA’s case study of Dell’s Precautionary Approach to Chemical Management.

To learn more about REACH and other European chemical policy changes, visit Chemsec’s website.

To learn more about California’s Green Chemistry Initiative click here.

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