Recent Posts:
Tips for Recyclable Collection and Take-Back Programs at Retailers – May 9, 2012
Product Stewardship Must Be a Shared Responsibility – May 7, 2012
Responsible Recycling – May 3, 2012

Municipalities struggle with hazardous household waste

The U.S. EPA says there are more than 3,000 household hazardous waste (HHW) collection programs in the United States. Some communities provide permanent collection facilities. Others collect HHW on designated days at a central location to ensure safe management and disposal. In some communities consumers must rely on other means for recycling or proper disposal such as local businesses. For example, some local garages may accept used motor oil for recycling, and many retailers have recycling centers to collect batteries, compact florescent lights, plastic bags, etc. In order to meet the increasing demands of consumers while budgets have been slashed, municipal governments’ waste management efforts have had to become highly flexible, innovative and cost-effective.

King County, Wash., has a Wastemobile that travels to communities and is parked at various sites for two to three days. This provides residents with a place to take their hazardous waste that is more convenient than the permanent drop-off facility. Created in 1989, the Wastemobile was the first program of its kind in the nation. In 23 years of operation, the program has collected more than 14,000 tons of household hazardous waste from nearly 400,000 customers. For 2011, in 24 collection events, the Wastemobile served more than 13,000 King County residents and collected 506 tons.

In California, San Louis Obispo picks up small hazardous waste material, including batteries, from local retailers on an established collection route to help them comply with California regulations. Some municipalities are experimenting with collecting both alkaline and rechargeable batteries together. The Del Norte County, Calif., pilot project allowed co-collection of rechargeable and alkaline batteries. The first year of pilot project saw collections increase 3,000% over the baseline. This trend to collect all batteries rather than only rechargeable batteries seems to be gaining ground and efforts will likely increase.

Austin, Texas, also collects batteries from a city-wide drop-off program in addition to accepting batteries at their HHW facility. Sorted rechargeable batteries are bulk shipped to recycling facilities for free through Call2Recycle. A program for municipalities helps offset a portion of the sorting and handling costs associated with preparing batteries in accordance with DOT requirements.

Austin’s quantity of rechargeable batteries recycled continues to rise, with Austin Resource Recovery shipping 1,400 to 2,000 pounds every month. The major benefit for Austin is receiving detailed reporting on collection totals with breakdowns by battery type. Another is Call2Recycle‘s well-established and nationally recognized reputation. Partnering with an R2-certified organization which is also recognized as an e-Steward by the Basel Action Network assures that the materials are disposed of properly.

Across the country, municipalities are struggling to take increasing numbers of items and process greater quantities in their recycling programs despite limited resources. Undaunted, communities are continuing to recycle and finding inventive methods of protecting the environment.

Recent Posts:
Product Stewardship Must Be a Shared Responsibility – May 7, 2012
Responsible Recycling – May 3, 2012

Tips for recyclable collection and take-back programs at retailers

North American consumers have come to expect retailers will accept some used items for recycling that they cannot or should not throw away at home. Things like plastic and paper bags as well as Styrofoam trays and egg cartons can be returned to the grocery store, while hardware stores and home improvement centers take things such as compact fluorescent light bulbs and rechargeable batteries. At electronics retailers, the volume and variety of objects brought in are overwhelming. Even so, customers presume stores will have intelligent and responsible collection and disposition programs in place.

How retailers, especially big box stores, collect recyclables is key to encouraging continued consumer participation and affects the residual value of items. Intake by store associates has higher labor cost but can ensure proper and safe handling of items. For instance, it is important when packaging rechargeable batteries to tape the terminals or seal them in individual bags before placing them in the shipping box. The closer attention and sorting by associates means better item separation and, consequently, less contamination and higher residual value.

Consumer sorting has a low potential cost but may not result in appropriate handling or separation of items. Collection centers for customer sorting located at the front of the store benefit customers and retailers. Customers can easily locate collection bins, and retailers are delighted to bring customers through their doors where they may stay and shop. The tradeoff for this visibility is occupying a high-traffic, revenue-generating area with a nonrevenue generating function. This is not an issue when store associates collect the items from customers at an appropriate area. Making sure the storefront collection is as efficient as possible is another way to address this issue.

This location, however, can be problematic by creating a bottleneck if the drop-off process is cumbersome. Some congestion can be abated with a designated, permanent space for the center by conveying the retailer’s commitment to the program. But if the customer is being asked to place items in separate, designated bins it could take time to determine the correct one. The more confusing and cluttered the area, the more likely items will not be sorted correctly and inappropriate items will be introduced into the bins.

Call2Recycle has studied the best practices for collecting recyclables in a self-serve setting. We can offer recommendations in several areas.

• Communicate explicitly and in the right place: Knees can’t read and graphics work better than text.
• Simplify the task: Make the bin fit the item.
• Engage and motivate the consumer: Reward good behavior; provide an element of delight.
• Make the center appealing and easy to use: Unify bins into a single unit with no flat surfaces for clutter.
• Demonstrate commitment through planning and long-term dedication.
• Centralize the collection center in the front of the store: Lower risk from theft and accidents with better supervision.
• Think beyond the bin: Additional collection at point-of-purchase may increase participation and sales; engaging employees and the community enhances the program.

Use of recycling centers is destined to grow as more and different items are added to the list of recyclables and consumers increasingly utilize the services. While some of the suggestions above may improve the process and help customers correctly sort their items, confusion is bound to arise. Individual consumers are not equipped to make distinctions based on specific materials and there are a finite number of sorting bins that can be added.

One solution is to sort items by type. An easier system might be constructed around categories. For example, consumers rarely think about removing batteries when they turn in small electronics such as cell phones or laptop computers.

As more items are added to the recycling mix it will be beneficial to move from sorting individual materials to categories of materials.

Recent Posts:
Responsible Recycling – May 3, 2012

Product stewardship must be a shared responsibility

In our previous post we talked about recycling having been around before there was an environmental movement. When your thrifty grandmother saved everything knowing she would find another use for it, she was recycling. Last week’s return-for-deposit glass bottle example is another recycling effort motivated by economics.

From a pragmatic perspective, the costs and benefits of recycling programs depend on the specific products or materials addressed. Research by Michael Sturges of Pira International has found where a material has a positive value at end-of-life – the costs of collecting, sorting and reprocessing are lower than the market value of the reclaimed material – market forces will generate recycling programs regardless of the scale of environmental impact. The greater the end-of-life value, the more likely that development will occur.

Where the value of recovered material is negative – the costs of collecting, sorting and re- processing are greater than the value of the material reclaimed or produced – recycling will only occur with market intervention, Sturges continues. Whether market intervention should be pursued or not may depend upon the relative scale of the environmental impact. In instances where environmental impact is high, a prescriptive approach may be required to ensure that high levels of environmental protection are achieved.

Whether prescribed or not, recycling programs appear to have a significant role to play in situations where the end-of-life value of products is low but the scale of environmental impact of disposal is significant. The question becomes who bears the burden of ensuring proper disposal in these instances?

Municipalities have traditionally conducted a community’s waste management, including properly disposing of hazardous trash. As the amount of hazardous materials has grown, governments have sought ways to mitigate increasing costs. Some municipalities and states have put the onus on manufacturers with extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes in various forms, such as fees or mandatory take-back programs.

While they may be able to mandate away their financial responsibility, these programs cannot replace the municipality’s leadership role. Additionally, as they institute these programs, governments must provide the infrastructure, such as collection centers or curbside programs, as well as promote recycling in their communities. None of these efforts, however, can be effective without educated, motivated consumers.

Historically, collection rates for most recycling programs in the United States have been low, particularly compared to places like Western Europe. Product stewardship still depends, ultimately, on end-user behavior for its success, and since most systems in place are voluntary, there is little incentive to propel them to action. Joint efforts between manufacturers, retailers, government and the public can best affect education to motivate consumer behavioral change. To have an impact, product stewardship must be a shared responsibility amongst manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and government.

Responsible Recycling

Increasing numbers of consumers are recycling their household waste and participating in local curbside pickup efforts. Even more impactful are the swelling numbers of sustainability initiatives by corporations and other organizations that, in addition to their major energy conservation and pollutant containment policies, include proper disposal of waste through recycling. But how often do the participants of recycling programs think of what happens to the unwanted items after they deposit items in the recycle bin?

It is easy to agree that waste, especially materials that could be hazardous, should be handled responsibly to prevent polluting land, water, and air, and affecting public health. But it is also important to ensure that the materials are properly handled downstream. One type of waste that has become a focus of responsible recycling is electronic waste (e-waste) such as computer equipment, consumer electronics and cellphones, as well as the batteries that power them. Even though the majority of electronics collected for recycling in the U.S. are processed domestically, it has been sometimes exported to developing countries where disposal is less regulated and enforced.

The rechargeable batteries and electronic devices often contain materials that can be hazardous if released into the environment. Thirty-one states have instituted mandatory rechargeable battery recovery programs and 26 states have enacted e-waste laws. While many battery laws regulate the disposal of small sealed lead acid and nickel cadmium batteries, there is no uniformity about which chemistries are incorporated into programs and what constitutes proper disposition.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests several questions to ask in researching recycling providers:

• Is there a reliable market for the saleable products or intermediates that are made from recycling your hazardous secondary material?
• After receiving your materials, does the recycler track them through its process?
• Are residuals, if any are generated from the recycling process, managed in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment?
• Can the recycler provide names and locations of businesses, landfills, or incinerators to which it sends products and/or residuals?
• Can the recycler supply certification of final disposition for your materials, if necessary?
• What is their compliance record with federal and state environmental and occupational safety regulations?
• What is their commitment to sound environmental stewardship?
• Check the facility’s record in EPA’s public databases (such as http://www.epa‐echo.gov/echo/) or state databases

The EPA encourages the use of certified electronics recyclers certified by an accredited, independent third-party. Currently two accredited certification standards exist: the Responsible Recycling Practices (R2) and the e-Stewards standards.

The R2 guide lists 13 principles to help electronics recyclers ensure their material is handled safely and legally in the U.S. and foreign countries. It calls on recyclers to establish a management system for environmental and worker safety; develop a policy that promotes reuse and material recovery over landfill or incineration; and use practices that reduce exposures or emissions during recycling operations. The principles also call for recyclers to use diligence to assure appropriate management of materials throughout the recycling chain, including materials that are exported to foreign countries.

To assure our participants that their batteries are recycled in a safe and responsible manner, Call2Recycle sought and received certification for its collections program. Call2Recycle is the first program of its kind to receive the R2 certification for our system of accountability from collection through to disposition. We are also recognized as a qualified e-Steward by the Basel Action Network (BAN).

Responsible recycling requires that good intentions are followed through with due diligence to ensure your aims are fulfilled by actions downstream. Doing the right thing sometimes means making sure you associate with others that do the right thing as well. Product stewardship calls on those in the product life cycle—manufacturers, retailers, users, and disposers—to share responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of products. Next time we will examine what various groups mean when they refer to product stewardship.

	On April 21 & 22, Battery Giant’s Rochester, MI store participated in Beaumont Children’s Hospital’s 2012 E-Clutter Recycle-a-Thon, where e-waste was collected for recycling to help support the hospital’s Center for Speech and Language Disorders.

We’d love to see how you celebrated Earth Day. Send us pictures of your recycling event and we might post them on our site.

A good time was had by all!

See more pictures from other events

We’d love to see how you celebrated Earth Day. Send us pictures of your recycling event and we might post them on our site.

Grand-Prize Winner:
Razel Malan

Runner-Up:
Edrian Gomez

Weekly Winners:
Cindy Inskeep-Dawkins
Carolyn Sullivan
Razel Malan
Edrian Gomez
Dana Rodriguez
Margaret Porter