Due to constant changes and improvements regarding living standards and technical capabilities, the use electronic products is increasingly widespread. Consequently, this means that variety in types of e-waste is growing as well. Unlike domestic waste, electronic waste is complicated in composition. It contains substances that are harmful to both human health and to the environment, such as heavy metals and recyclable materials like precious metals and resins. Proper disposal of electronics to better protect the environment and save resources has become a major issue facing human society.

Many countries regulate and promote the recycling of e-waste through legislation and the establishment of relevant policies and systems. Many developed countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, and Japan have established relatively systematic legal systems concerning the scrapping and disposal of electronic products, involving the collection of electronic waste disposal fees and the recycling of electronic waste. In the 1990s Japan and many european nations began to create legislation addressing e-waste. Japan promulgated and implemented special laws and regulations and accumulated a great deal of experience in discarding the legislation on electric and electronic products. (Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan)

One example of a European country at the forefront of e-waste regulations is Germany. Germany is an industrially developed country and any production and living activities are based on the principle of giving priority to environmental protection. In 1991, the German government enacted the “Electronic Waste Ordinance”, which stipulates that the manufacturers and importers of electronic products shall assume the responsibility of accepting the return of the electronic waste. The 1996 Law on the Confinement of Materials and Circulation and Waste Management established that manufacturers of electronic products bear the responsibility of “producer responsibility.” That is, they should bear the responsibility of reducing waste generation and waste disposal. In order to further implement the EU WEEE directive, in 2005 the German Bundestag passed the “Regulations on Sales, Recycling and Environmentally Sound Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Products” to promote the recycling and reuse of electronics, thus reducing the need for disposal of hazardous substances in e-waste. (WEEE, no. 3, European Parliament)

The German collection system for electronic products covers collection points set up by public waste management agencies, commercial collection points, and producer collection points. The government set up the Waste Electrical Register (EAR) to manage the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Industry Fund in Germany. (WEEE full-service website) Funds come from the producers to pay the foundation responsible for the collection of unified collection and payment of electronics disposal costs. Under the EAR system, the fees charged by the manufacturer mainly include the registration fee, capital guarantee fee, transportation fee, handling fee, etc. In addition, there are a small part of the EAR agency administrative expenses.

Rather than just legislate, Japan has really created a lasting model for e-waste recycling. The Japanese government has guided the establishment of a “recycling-oriented society” through the “Basic Law on the Promotion of a Recyclable-type Society.” A “recycling society” is a society that reduces the consumption of natural resources and reduces the environmental load by reducing the amount of waste, reusing recyclable resources, and appropriately handling them. (Japanese government, ministry of environment)

In order to achieve the strategic goal of “recycling society,” the Japanese government has enacted two comprehensive laws: the Waste Disposal Law, which focuses on appropriate disposal of waste, and the Effective Use of Resources Promotion Law, which promotes the efficient use of resources. On the basis of these two comprehensive laws, a series of recovery laws for various types of waste was further developed. In 2001, Japan began to implement the “Redemption of Certain Household Appliances” (“Home Appliance Law”), clearly stipulating the responsibilities of manufacturers, importers, sellers and consumers of electronics and electrical appliances. Manufacturers and importers should handle e-waste recycling, the seller should handle the transportation of recyclables, and consumers should handle the costs borne from the recovery and transportation of the products. The implementation of the “Home Appliances Law” has not only improved the utilization rate of resources but also reduced the disposal pressure on landfills. (Government of Japan, Ministry of Economy)

In the disposal of e-waste processing fee management model, Japan did not set up similar to the German set of recovery and disposal funds. The processing of funds is required by consumers, and the flow of funds is from the consumer directly to the hands of enterprises. Its advantages save the government’s management costs. However, due to a monopoly of the market by a few businesses, high processing costs result.

There are currently policies in the United States that focus on electrical wastes. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for example, aims to control the baneful waste. “The statement of the ‘Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)’ gives EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the ‘cradle-to-grade.’ This includes the generations, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA also set forth a framework for the management of the non-hazardous solid waste.” (EPA website)

The purposes of the RCRA are to protect human health and environment, conserve natural resources, reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous waste and ensure the safe management of hazardous waste. Hazardous waste regulations were designed to control the management of hazardous waste from “cradle to grave,” i.e The wastes go from generator to transport, and then to storage and finally treatment and disposal. Other agencies responsible for the RCRA include the Department of Labor, Department of Transportation, and the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. U.S Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve, U.S Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are also responsible for the RCRA. Part of the RCRA is defining electronic waste as “any garbage, refuse, sludge… and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid and contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations.” Under this definition, the e-waste is also part of the solid waste. Discarded material refers to abandoned, recycled, military ammunition and anything considered “inherently waste-like.” Abandoned material refers to materials that would be disposed, burned, incinerated, accumulated, stored, or treated before or in lieu of being abandoned.

There are ways for the RCRA to identify whether the material is hazardous waste. As for the electrical waste, the wastes could be the excess material from electroplating and toxic metal finishing operations, dioxin bearing wastes, and byproducts from the production of certain chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons. As e-waste are potentially be flammable, reactive, and toxic, materials can be considered hazardous if they exhibit one or more of the above characteristics.  RCRA would therefore take control on the wastes from abandoned and disposed electronics, thus mitigating the hazardous effect of e-waste.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Act 108 also refers to the e-waste in Section 510 titled, “Electronic Materials Recycling Account”. Under this section, the literature reads “(a) Establishment.–The Electronic Materials Recycling Account is established as a restricted account in the General Fund. All proceeds resulting from the manufacturer’s registration fees, renewal fees, penalties and judicial actions shall be deposited into the account. (b) Uses. –The department may expend the moneys of the Electronic Materials Recycling Account only to carry out the duties imposed on the department under this act.” The policy focused on the registration fee of manufacturers and regulating the electronic wastes from the manufacturing side. (2010 Act 108)

The National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship (NSES) is enforced by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). “The National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship provides four overarching goals, the action items under each goal and the projects that will implement each action item. By implementing the recommendations presented in the Strategy, developed by an interagency Task Force, the federal government will lay the groundwork for improving the design of electronic products and enhancing our management of used or discarded electronics. This Strategy provides a roadmap of how the federal government can use its authorities and leverage resources to seize this opportunity.” The NSES was aimed to achieve the following goals:

1. Build incentives for design of environmentally preferable electronics and enhance science, research, and technology development in the United States
2. Ensure that the federal government leads by example
3. Increase safe and effective management and handling of used electronics in the United States
4. Reduce harm from U.S. exports of electronics waste (e-waste) and improve handling of used electronics in developing countries

Different schools also have different regulations and policies relating to the management of the electronic waste. University of Chicago for example, uses an on-demand e-waste recycling service to serve the campus community. By 2025, the university aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. The University of Stanford has locations for the disposal of all electronic devices for students. Students could choose their housing based on the drop off locations of the electronic wastes. This policy says that “Only small, non-capital equipment may be placed into these collection containers. For large volumes of these wastes and disposal of larger components (i.e. computers, monitors, printers, etc.), you are required to coordinate disposal through your Department Property Administrator.” (ehs.stanford.edu)

University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Public School system have co-sponsored a community-wide e-waste recycling event every spring since 2008. Materials accepted include computer systems and accessories, two-way radios, office equipment, home theater equipment, and cellular phones. In terms of what happens to the recycled e-waste, organizers state that, “All equipment is destroyed and recycled in an environmentally sound manner by a fully licensed recycling facility in North America. Equipment is manually and mechanically disassembled; shredded into small pieces of metals, plastics, and glass; and separated into reusable commodity streams used to manufacture new materials. The facility is also Responsible Recycling Practices (R2) certified. Responsible Recycling Practices (R2) is recognized by the EPA as a third-party certification for electronics recyclers to ensure the proper disposal of used electronics.” (sustainability.umich.edu)

At Lafayette College, we are now processing policies that focusing on electronic wastes and hazardous materials as well. In the “Hazardous Waste Management Plan” that enacted by the public safety, Lafayette College focused on the management of hazardous chemical wastes that are generated at the college. Among the chemical wastes there are some overlaps with the electronic wastes. Therefore, the college are undertaking the electronic wastes in the hazardous waste management plan. In Lafayette, there are also electronic policies that applies to college-owned computer and electronic devices that are being replaced. The three possible dispositions are “reuse, donate and recycle.” The following is the summary of the policy that relates with the disposition. (its.lafayette.edu)

• Reuse: the machines still have value to Lafayette and will be reused on campus.
• Donate: the machines are of no value to Lafayette but may be usable by an outside non-profit agency; we will donate them to those qualifying organizations that have requested used equipment.
• Recycle: the machines have no value, and must be recycled by an e-waste processor.

In this project, we are concerned with the sustainability office and our goal is seeking the right policies for the electronic wastes in campus. By learning from the policies all over the world and other universities, Lafayette College is seeking for a better policy that is sustainable and effective.

Chart for e-waste programs at liberal art colleges