Table of Contents
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
1.1. Background of Team Members
1.2. Successes and Challenges of the Program
1.3. Economic Development Achievements
2. Collection Events
2.1. Cabell County/Barboursville Event
2.2. Putnam County/Winfield Event
2.3. Berkeley County/Martinsburg Event
2.4. Raleigh County/Beckley Event
2.5. Ritchie County/Ellenboro Event
2.6. Wood County/Vienna Event
2.7. Wood County/Davisville Event
2.8. Putnam County/Hurricane Event
2.9. Greenbrier County/Ronceverte Event
2.10. Pounds Collected/Overall Costs
3. Exhibits
3.1 Exhibit 1: Map Showing Order of Recycling Events
3.2 Exhibit 2: Pounds per Capita Collected by Event
3.3 Exhibit 3: Cost per Pound by Event
4. Summary
4.1 Lessons Learned
4.2 Pounds Collected
4.3 Future Plans
Appendix A: Survey Results from Collection Events
Appendix B: Press Releases for Collection Events and Project
Appendix C: Compilation of Media Coverage
Executive Summary
The National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER) was the recipient of a 2007 Recycling Assistance Grant from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This grant was officially awarded to the NCER by Governor Joe Manchin and Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP) Chief Danny Haught at an awards ceremony at the State Capitol on November 27, 2006.
The purpose of the grant project was to establish and publicize a series of electronics collection events and a limited duration ongoing program throughout the state of West Virginia. In total, there were seven one-day collection events held in the following counties: Cabell, Putnam (twice), Berkeley, Raleigh, Ritchie, and Wood, and two limited duration programs held in Wood and Greenbrier Counties, respectively. Through these collection events, WV residents and small businesses were given the opportunity to responsibly recycle used electronics free of charge and thus prevent the lead, mercury, and other materials contained in electronics from ending up in WV landfills. Through NCER and partner efforts, a total of 275,981 pounds of electronic waste was diverted from the state landfills in 2007. In addition to this, the NCER was able to create public awareness of electronics recycling and develop partnerships with both private and public entities, all with one goal in mind - to create a permanent infrastructure for electronics recycling in WV.
The electronics recycling problem has received growing visibility during recent years. At the time of development of this report, there are twelve states that have passed mandatory electronics recycling legislation – West Virginia being the twelfth state. The NCER and many local stakeholders gained valuable experience through the management of this program that will help smooth the transition from sporadic, limited collection events in selected areas of the state to a more sustainable and regular collection program established by the legislation.
Introduction
The first milestone of our project was on April 28th at the electronics recycling event held at Best Buy in Huntington. Over the course of the following ten months, NCER executed an additional six day-long electronics collection events around the state and two multi-day programs. Our second multi-day event as well as our final event of the year was held in Greenbrier County over the course of two weeks. It was our longest event of the year and our most successful event on a pounds per capita basis with 1.36 pounds per capita being collected.
An integral part of the success of our electronics recycling events was the marketing and advertising campaign we put together to promote the recycling opportunities and educate the public (see attached sample). The theme of our print and radio campaign was “Wanted Dead or Alive, Your Used Electronics” (see Appendix B for ad samples). Through this campaign we were able to communicate acceptable types of electronics as well as when and where the events were held. Through the surveys given on-site, we learned that our newspaper ads continued to be the top method through which participants heard about our events. Our television ad was also very effective in promoting the project and the importance of electronics recycling. We were given the opportunity to use a professionally produced commercial given to us by the Maryland Department of the Environment which we had tagged and recorded with our event-specific information. This ad communicated how important it was not to “trash” electronics as well as gave us another opportunity to advertise our upcoming collection events.
As for our collection and processing procedures, our events were typically set up on the site of a prominent retail location or recycling center. In addition to NCER staff being on-site to answer questions, administer surveys and conduct brand counting, Amandi Services, now eco International, provided staff that collected the electronics, loaded them onto pallets and placed them onto the trucks that would eventually haul them back to the recycling facility in Davisville, WV. At the Davisville facility the electronics were then “demanufactured”, which is the act of recycling end-of-life electronics by sorting and separating their components for resale or reuse. All electronics received at the facility were weighed and tracked through a computerized bar-coding system. Some materials were then sorted in a “triage” area and separated into “resellable” commodities such as cords, power supplies and hard drives. Larger electronic items such as televisions and desktop computers were manually dismantled by workers stationed along a conveyor belt. Typically separated materials included plastic housings, circuit boards, non-ferrous metals and bare Cathode-Ray Tubes.
The NCER collection events were an incredible success in terms of total pounds collected. As a result of the 2007 collection events, the NCER was able to collect and recycle 275,981 pounds of electronic waste - more than 38,000 pounds above last year’s total of 237,925 pounds, which had a larger grant budget (an overall 14% increase).
1.1. Background of Team Members
The project team included the NCER, Amandi Services, and numerous representatives of county Solid Waste Authorities.
National Center for Electronics Recycling
Project management was provided by the NCER Executive Director and Project and Communication Manager. The NCER is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 2005 that is dedicated to the development and enhancement of a national infrastructure for the recycling of used electronics in the U.S. through 1) the coordination of initiatives targeting the recycling of used electronics in the United States, 2) participation in pilot projects to advance and encourage electronics recycling, and 3) the development of programs that reduce the burden of government through private management of electronics recycling systems.
Amandi Services, Inc. (now Eco International)
Amandi Services is based in Vestal, NY and is one of the largest world-wide companies providing recycling and asset management services with innovative approaches for the disposition of e-waste. Under this project, Amandi served as the collector and processor of used electronics for each event in the state. Amandi has a long history in the electronics recycling business. They were the first company in the world to provide closed-loop recycling of post consumer Cathode Ray Tubes (1991), the first nationwide collection program for television repair facilities within the industry (1996) and the first nationwide residential return program of obsolete electronics for a major computer manufacturer (2000).
County Solid Waste Authorities
For most events, a representative from the local county Solid Waste Authority was involved. In several cases, NCER staff made presentations to Solid Waste Authority Board members and were able to obtain financing to help execute events.
1.2. Successes and Challenges of the Program
This electronics recycling program had several successes, including:
· Educating the public about the importance of electronics recycling through the publication of 43 newspaper ads, radio ad campaigns during all but two events, and television ad campaigns during all but four events.
· Beating last year’s collection total and keeping 275,981 of pounds out of state landfills, with a smaller grant budget than in 2006
· Supporting the state’s economy through the purchase of ad space, signs and demanufacturing services
· Completing a brand count at certain event to obtain valuable brand data. Several states implementing electronics recycling laws have depended on the limited data from around the country, including NCER data from WV collections.
· Assisting several school districts to responsibly recycle their outdated equipment, thereby saving education budgets
· Creating a unique partnership of state, county and private businesses and organizations with one goal in mind.
This electronics recycling program had several challenges, including:
· Not being unable to implement more than a ten day long-term collection site
· Being able to educate the public about electronics recycling, but only being able to provide temporary relief for a growing problem
· Being close to executing a long-term drop-off at the local recycling center as well as partial funding through the city of Parkersburg, but not being able to get final approval from the mayor’s office
· Not being able to put together a reuse initiative through the grant project
1.3. Economic Development Achievements
Directly:
· Helped support one full-time position at NCER and supported up to 17 workers at Amandi’s Davisville site
· Purchased ad space, TV production services and signs from in-state companies
Indirectly:
· Spurred interest in new industry. Received several calls from potential new in-state companies and could see more in the future.
· Held events on-site at some retail establishments where sales of new (replacement) electronics were documented after patrons dropped off their old items at the e-cycling event
Collection Events
The grant team conducted and managed seven day-long collection events and two long-term drop-off events at various locations across the state. Each event had certain common characteristics, such as:
· Products Accepted: Answering machines, Camcorders, Compact disc players, Copiers, Duplicators, Electric typewriters, Fax machines, Hard drives, Laptops, Mobile phones, Modems, Pagers, Personal computers (CPU, monitors, keyboards, mouse, and peripherals), Printers, Printed circuit boards, Radios, Remote controls, Stereos, Tape players, Telephones and telephone equipment, Televisions, VCR’s, Word Processors
· Products Not Accepted: Microwaves, Smoke Detectors, Large Household Appliances such as Refrigerators, Washing Machines, and Air Conditioners
· Drive-Through Event: With the exception of the longer-term drop-off locations in Wood and Greenbrier Counties, seven of the events were drive-through events. At each location, traffic cones were placed to direct vehicles to a set of Gaylord boxes on pallets. There, recycler employers or temporary workers would unload each vehicle and place them into the boxes on pallets. Participants were encouraged to remain in their vehicles to keep the traffic flow moving. Either before or after dropping off their equipment, a survey was taken for each participant (vehicle).
· Held on Saturday for 5-6 Hours: In order to maximize participation by individuals that work on weekdays, each event was held on a Saturday (except for the two longer-term collection events held in Wood and Greenbrier Counties).
· Unit Limit per Vehicle: Events restricted the participants to the drop-off of 5 to 10 items. This limit was put in place to prevent larger businesses from taking advantage of the collection event and overwhelming the event with large quantities of equipment. Many large businesses are required by law to properly dispose of their electronic equipment, and have recycling options available that households and small businesses do not.
· Staffed by Recycler with Volunteers for Logistics/Surveys: Due to insurance restrictions, all personnel involved with physically removing equipment and were either Amandi employees or temporary labor hired by the recyclers. Other volunteers, included staff from the NCER and County Solid Waste Authorities performed duties such as taking surveys, directing traffic, and counting brands received of desktop computers, laptop computers, TVs, and computer monitors.
· Sponsorship from Seven Major Manufacturers: At the outset of the program, support from the program was sought from several major manufacturers who have worked with Amandi in the past. Five manufacturers had existing relationships with the recycler that allowed Amandi to bill for the recycling costs of their amount of branded products received at various collection events: JVC, Lexmark, Panasonic, Sony, and Sharp. These sponsors received recognition throughout the year in flyers, press releases, and on team member websites.
· Coordination and Sponsorship from Local Solid Waste Authority: For every event, grant team members contacted the county Solid Waste Authority. For some events, the SWA provided advice over the phone regarding locations and promotion best practices. In others, SWA representatives were very involved in setting, managing, and handled publicity for the event. In a few counties, SWA’s helped fund events.
2.1 Cabell County/Huntington Event: April 28, 2007
On April 28, 2007, the NCER held their first electronics recycling event from 10am-3pmat the Huntington Best Buy store in Barboursville. This event was co-sponsored by Best Buy and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. During this event, 15,378 pounds of electronics were collected and 185 vehicles participated.
A photo from the event is shown below.
2.2 Putnam County/Winfield Event: May 12, 2007
On May 12, 2007, the NCER held their second electronics recycling event from 9am-3pm at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield. This event was co-sponsored by thePutnam County Solid Waste Authority, Putnam County Commission, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.During this event, 23,146 pounds of electronics were collected and 165 vehicles participated.
A photo from the event is shown below.
2.3 Berkeley County/Martinsburg Event: June 23, 2007
On June 23, 2007, the NCER held their third electronics recycling event from 9am-3pm at the Grapevine Road Recycling Center, in MartinsburgThis event was co-sponsored by theBerkeley County Solid Waste Authority and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. During this event, 52,119 pounds of electronics were collected and 558 vehicles participated. Response to this event was overwhelming as traffic lined up at the entrance to the facility and stretched for nearly a mile out to the main road. For the second year in a row, the Berkeley County collection event was the largest in terms of both participants and pounds collected.