Recycling E-waste in the Bay Area.

GreenCitizen serves the San Francisco and Silicon Valley areas. They help individuals and organizations recycle electronics responsibly. They do this by providing convenient, affordable and responsible solutions, making it effortless for anyone and everyone to help save the environment from harmful electronic waste.

Prior to GreenCitizen, de-manufacturing processes and their environmental soundness were difficult to track and verify. Many other e-recycling companies were able to validate what electronics they have recycled, what processes they have used and where toxic materials have ended up. GreenCitizen has a proprietary checks and balance program called, Total Accountability Management System (GTAMS). According to GreenCitizen, this system “uniquely tracks recycled items from pickup in a developed country through to the shipping and de-manufacturing process in a GreenCitizen facility located in a developing country. The system enables complete accountability of all items in the de-manufacturing process worldwide.”

They are developing one of the first e-waste recycling systems in the world, designed to keep all parties responsible. Through the standard, everyone involved in the process must provide documentation and actual contributions to proper electronics recycling. GreenCitizen is working day and night to set a new, global standard in the technology of e-recycling. All research and development efforts are being conducted through what is being called, their Sustainable Technology Applied Research, or STAR Lab.

For more information visit greencitizen.com

New York e-waste Recycling Legislation

A study by the EPA estimates that New York City residents purchase about 12 million electronic devices each year amounting to 92,000 tons of product a year. When close to 25,000 tons of electronic waste is created each year in New York City (at the cities expense), it comes as no surprise that “The Big Apple” will be the first US city to enforce a electronic-recycling law. Come July 2009 all manufacturers of electronic goods will be required to start collecting old electronics for reuse and recycling, by July 2010 the Department of Sanitation will no longer collect certain electronic instruments, next by 2012 manufacturers will be required to collect 25% of their sold electronics (in weight), and finally by 2018 they will be required to collect 65% of their disposed product.

This requires electonic comanies to initiate a buy-back program. It also requires them to look at their overall manufacturing process and figure out where they can integrate reused parts and recycled materials. In addition, this law will encourage companies and manufacturers to take responsibility for the product they put on the market and design products to have a longer life.

The main concern presented by consumers on this topic is that this recycling initiative will take the cost right back out of the consumers pocket. In opposition, I say that if designed properly, companies could generate less waste, incorporate reused parts, have to source less raw material, and ultimately find themselves with more efficient manufacturing processes that will result in a lower cost.

National Geographic Explains e-Waste and Recycling

This month’s National Geographic features a very informative article on e-waste called High Tech Trash. We highly recommend this read to any designer or business owner working in the electronics industry.

Click here for the full article.