CFY In the News: 7/11/07, FT.com

July 11, 2007

IT Going Green: Are the problems just being passed on?

By Sam Hiser

Although the average personal computer monitor has a longer useful life than the average PC, tens of millions of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screens are being discarded each year.

This CRT obsolescence is made worse by the superior quality, looks, size and, increasingly, price of newer flat screens.

This is an environmental threat. CRTs contain lead as well as other irreducible precious metals including silver, copper, gold, platinum and palladium. Barium, beryllium, chromium, mercury, copper, phosphorus and cadmium also occur in worrying amounts.

Moreover, a CRT's plastic components contain brominated flame retardants. Most of these materials are believed to be hazardous in the waste environment or when handled without safe systems and procedures. It is feared, for example, that such e-waste accumulating in a landfill site could affect water systems or the air to cause irreversible health damage (the materials are believed to threaten the respiratory or central nervous system, although an expert says full risk assessments on landfill still need to be performed).

While the reuse and recycle channels in North America and Europe are maturing and being better utilised, they still permit a significant portion of old electronics to enter the waste stream. Gartner expects 160m PCs to be retired globally in 2007. Of this, it estimates 41 per cent will be stored; 27 per cent recycled; and 32 per cent sent to landfill.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently estimated that between 2003 and 2005 in the US , about 45 per cent of electronic products were stored or reused, 11 per cent were recycled, and 44 per cent entered the waste stream. These look poor figures in a country where 100 per cent reuse or recycling could be possible.

They look even worse when one considers that old systems are being shipped to the developing world in great quantities for reuse. Here, disposal infrastructure and policies are only in their infancy. Simon Mingay, a Gartner analyst, says: “We're exporting a big problem.”

So what happens to a discarded CRT? They are either stored, reused, remanufactured, recycled or incinerated or disposed of at landfill (if local laws do not prohibit it). Because computers are durable, reuse is the most environmentally beneficial path. It extends the life of products in use while directly and immediately reducing contributions to the waste-stream. Experts say reuse is far preferable to recycling.

In the most simple case, reuse might happen via individual hand-me-downs, or at a business level when a bank office, for example, ships 150 retired PCs to a local redistribution agency.

Computer redistribution is a cottage industry—often a not-for-profit, local affair—but also including important and growing organisations with international scope. Goodwill International, Computers for Youth and Computer Aid International, for example, handle large quantities and offer technical support and family computer training services along with redistribution.

Computers for Youth, a non-profit body in New York , prefers to take old PCs in large quantities from corporations and distribute them to families in Brooklyn and the Bronx through Saturday morning collection point training and “family tech nights”.

Non-profit Computer Aid International, based in the UK , is possibly the largest reuse agency. Although 75 per cent of its goods flow to Africa , it distributes to 106 countries and is about to reach 100,000 units delivered since its inception nine years ago. It works with non-profit partners such as Computers for Schools Kenya, CIDA South Africa, World Links Rwanda, SchoolNet Malawi, to name but a few.

These are success stories, but they represent only a small proportion of the total flow of retiring electronics—and it might just involve shifting the developed world's waste problems to regions less able to cope. Many African communities lack safe and convenient waste disposal facilities and long-distance shipping of heavy goods such as CRTs carries its own environmental impact.

In his work on sustainability and lifecycle assessment, Eric Williams, assistant professor at Arizona State University , looks at the costs and environmental impacts across the lifecycle of goods. He co-wrote a book with Ruediger Kuehr* and believes that growing the local reuse channels in particular can help reduce the waste-stream with a lower lifecycle impact.

Mr Williams asserts that reuse is 20 times more effective at saving lifecycle energy than recycling; but shifting the flow of used electronics away from the waste-stream is the most important thing. He says: “I'm thinking an incentive system—perhaps regionally or nationally standardized—would be an effective way to discourage disposal.” He visualises a managed system along the lines of the 5-cent return deposit for an empty bottle of soda or beer.

Remanufacture, on the other hand, is a form of recycling that is less invasive, less costly and less energy hungry, as it involves the re-assembly of intact parts. Computer for Schools Kenya, for example, engages in remanufacture when it disassembles computer monitors—separating the CRT from the steel frame, plastic housing and circuit board—to use the surviving parts to rebuild fresh ones.

Also, it converts some CRTs to TV sets merely by changing the circuit board. These are sold locally to help the organisation recoup operating costs.

For its part, recycling means breaking devices down into components and returning them to the manufacturing cycle. It is a more expensive option.

Dead CRTs in Kenya , for example, are shipped back to Europe to a company called Breed in Nijmegen , Netherlands . Tony Roberts, Computer Aid's executive director and founder, says: “We capture 100 per cent of CRT materials in the recycle process.”

All the major computer vendors now have “take-back” programmes, each motivated by an honest recognition of their responsibilities. HP, for one, has been taking old PC returns (any brand) for the longest time and its spent toner cartridge return programme—complete with self-addressed sealable bag and box—has been a model for competitors to follow.

Now that most vendors offer product return processes, there are fewer excuses for casual dumping of old CRTs.

*Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing Their Impacts, (Springer, 2003)

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July 11, 2007 IT Going Green: Are the problems just being passed on? By Sam Hiser Although the average personal computer monitor has a longer useful life than the average PC, tens of millions of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screens are being discarded each year. This CRT obsolescence is made worse by the superior quality, looks, size and, increasingly, price of newer flat screens. This is an environmental threat. CRTs contain lead as well as other irreducible precious metals including silver, copper, gold, platinum and palladium. Barium, beryllium, chromium, mercury, copper, phosphorus and cadmium also occur in worrying amounts. Moreover, a CRT's plastic components contain brominated flame retardants. Most of these materials are believed to be hazardous in the waste environment or when handled without safe systems and procedures. It is feared, for example, that such e-waste accumulating in a landfill site could affect water systems or the air to cause irreversible health damage (the materials are believed to threaten the respiratory or central nervous system, although an expert says full risk assessments on landfill still need to be performed). While the reuse and recycle channels in North America and Europe are maturing and being better utilised, they still permit a significant portion of old electronics to enter the waste stream. Gartner expects 160m PCs to be retired globally in 2007. Of this, it estimates 41 per cent will be stored; 27 per cent recycled; and 32 per cent sent to landfill. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently estimated that between 2003 and 2005 in the US , about 45 per cent of electronic products were stored or reused, 11 per cent were recycled, and 44 per cent entered the waste stream. These look poor figures in a country where 100 per cent reuse or recycling could be possible. They look even worse when one considers that old systems are being shipped to the developing world in great quantities for reuse. Here, disposal infrastructure and policies are only in their infancy. Simon Mingay, a Gartner analyst, says: “We're exporting a big problem.” So what happens to a discarded CRT? They are either stored, reused, remanufactured, recycled or incinerated or disposed of at landfill (if local laws do not prohibit it). Because computers are durable, reuse is the most environmentally beneficial path. It extends the life of products in use while directly and immediately reducing contributions to the waste-stream. Experts say reuse is far preferable to recycling. In the most simple case, reuse might happen via individual hand-me-downs, or at a business level when a bank office, for example, ships 150 retired PCs to a local redistribution agency. Computer redistribution is a cottage industry—often a not-for-profit, local affair—but also including important and growing organisations with international scope. Goodwill International, Computers for Youth and Computer Aid International, for example, handle large quantities and offer technical support and family computer training services along with redistribution. Computers for Youth, a non-profit body in New York , prefers to take old PCs in large quantities from corporations and distribute them to families in Brooklyn and the Bronx through Saturday morning collection point training and “family tech nights”. Non-profit Computer Aid International, based in the UK , is possibly the largest reuse agency. Although 75 per cent of its goods flow to Africa , it distributes to 106 countries and is about to reach 100,000 units delivered since its inception nine years ago. It works with non-profit partners such as Computers for Schools Kenya, CIDA South Africa, World Links Rwanda, SchoolNet Malawi, to name but a few. These are success stories, but they represent only a small proportion of the total flow of retiring electronics—and it might just involve shifting the developed world's waste problems to regions less able to cope. Many African communities lack safe and convenient waste disposal facilities and long-distance shipping of heavy goods such as CRTs carries its own environmental impact. In his work on sustainability and lifecycle assessment, Eric Williams, assistant professor at Arizona State University , looks at the costs and environmental impacts across the lifecycle of goods. He co-wrote a book with Ruediger Kuehr* and believes that growing the local reuse channels in particular can help reduce the waste-stream with a lower lifecycle impact. Mr Williams asserts that reuse is 20 times more effective at saving lifecycle energy than recycling; but shifting the flow of used electronics away from the waste-stream is the most important thing. He says: “I'm thinking an incentive system—perhaps regionally or nationally standardized—would be an effective way to discourage disposal.” He visualises a managed system along the lines of the 5-cent return deposit for an empty bottle of soda or beer. Remanufacture, on the other hand, is a form of recycling that is less invasive, less costly and less energy hungry, as it involves the re-assembly of intact parts. Computer for Schools Kenya, for example, engages in remanufacture when it disassembles computer monitors—separating the CRT from the steel frame, plastic housing and circuit board—to use the surviving parts to rebuild fresh ones. Also, it converts some CRTs to TV sets merely by changing the circuit board. These are sold locally to help the organisation recoup operating costs. For its part, recycling means breaking devices down into components and returning them to the manufacturing cycle. It is a more expensive option. Dead CRTs in Kenya , for example, are shipped back to Europe to a company called Breed in Nijmegen , Netherlands . Tony Roberts, Computer Aid's executive director and founder, says: “We capture 100 per cent of CRT materials in the recycle process.” All the major computer vendors now have “take-back” programmes, each motivated by an honest recognition of their responsibilities. HP, for one, has been taking old PC returns (any brand) for the longest time and its spent toner cartridge return programme—complete with self-addressed sealable bag and box—has been a model for competitors to follow. Now that most vendors offer product return processes, there are fewer excuses for casual dumping of old CRTs. *Computers and the Environment: Understanding and Managing Their Impacts, (Springer, 2003)
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