Extracts (these are not all concerned with lead free but are pertinent);
BUSINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT July 1999, Vol. X, No. 7
Mobile Phone Recycling Scheme Expands in UK
In early May, the UK's mobile phone industry announces a national campaign
designed to ensure that old mobile phones are properly recycled. The
takeback scheme will be run under the auspices of the European
Telecommunications and Professional Electronics Industries Association
(ECTEL) in conjunction with 10 industry partners: Alcatel, BT Cellnet,
Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, One 2 One, Panasonic, Philips, and
Vodafone. The scheme expands efforts that began as pilot tests in the UK
and Sweden in 1997 (see BATE, January and September 1998).
The industry estimates that there are 14 million mobile phone users in the
UK today and predicts that half the population will own a mobile phone by
2002. Since mobile phones have been used in the UK since 1985, the
industry estimates that there could already be more than two million old,
disused, or broken handsets in circulation, and this figure is increasing.
Under the new UK-wide program, customers will be able to return their old
or unwanted handsets, batteries, holsters, and chargers to recycling
points, either by drop-off at more than 380 locations (including retail
outlets), or by post. A list of recycling points is available on the ECTEL
Web site or from network operators.
"Until now, customers who have upgraded their phone or replaced their
battery have not been able to dispose of old equipment in an
environmentally responsible manner," said Bill McCartney, chairman of
ECTEL's Environment Specialists Group. "However, many of the components
can be recycled and put to good use elsewhere. This is a forerunner of
schemes that will proliferate across the industry in the coming years."
Draft German Electronics Takeback Decree in Trouble
A draft takeback decree for all types of waste electrical and electronic
equipment has begun to make its way through the German parliament,
starting with its approval by a parliament environment committee. But
industry, which earlier had accepted the draft in principle, is now voicing
fundamental objections to its financing provisions, raising concerns that
the proposed legislation like the EU's draft end-of-life vehicles directive
may become the target of intervention from Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
In covering large and small home appliances, information technology (IT)
equipment, and consumer electronics, the draft decree would go
significantly beyond an earlier version that targeted IT equipment only
(EWWE, 15 May 1998, p.8). Each company in these sectors would have to take
back free of charge as many of its own goods and comparable products
annually as it had sold during that year. The takback requirement would
cover equipment sold before the decree takes effect.
Industry would be permitted to levy a surcharge on new products to pay for
recycling, recovery, and environmentally sound disposal of materials.
Municipal waste authorities would be responsible for the collection and
initial sorting of equipment and would have to finance the former, though
not the latter.
No Recycling Targets
The proposed decree us currently expected to be discussed by the plenary of
the state chamber (Bundesrat) in September. If it gets a majority there
and is subsequently approved by the parliament's lower chamber (Bundestag)
as wekk, it could come into force as early as the end of this year.
Computer manufacturers would then have one year to comply with its
requirements. For other equipment, a two year transition period is
foreseen......
Belgium Plans Ban on Cadmium Batteries
Belgium is planning to introduce a generalized ban on nickel-cadmium
(Ni-Cd) batteries from 2008 as well as a punitive environmental tax to
encourage their phaseout in their interim.....
Aimed at reducing environmental levels of cadmium, a highly toxic heavy
metal, the ban would be implemented through a royal decree requiring only
the signature of the environment minister. Exemptions from the ban would
be considered for specific Ni-Cd battery applications where industry could
show that viable alternatives did not exist.....
RESOURCE RECYCLING July 1999
Electronic Scrap Take Back is the name of a new campaign in the UK to
recover scrap cell phones.
The program hopes to recover 750,000 phones in its first year . Used
phones can be dropped off at any of more than 400 collection sites. The
phones, batteries, chargers and holsters then are shipped to Esses-based
Shields Environmental for processing. Batteries will be removed and
recycled, some memory chips will be recovered for resale, and the remaining
scrap will be processed for the recovery of precious metals.
The campaign is sponsored by all the major phone makers and phone systems
operators n the UK.
Used copier parts are being put into new machines at the Fuji-Xerox
manufacturing plant in Ebina, Japan. About 17 percent of the copiers made
at the plant incorporate recycled parts, and this figure is expected to
increase to 25 percent this year.
GMI REPORT: JAPAN June 1999 No. 74
Recycling Rate of Electric Home Appliances to Rise to 80-90 percent in
2008. According to Proposal Made by the Ad-Hoc Council on the Living
Environment of the Ministry of Health and Welfare: Synthetic Resins are
included in the Recycling List:
A provisional report on recycling, that examines the waste disposal
criteria stipulated in the Recycling Law of Electric Home Appliances to be
enforced from the year 2001, has recently been compiled by the ad-hoc
committee in the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Living Environment
Council. The report requests home appliance producers to increase
recycling rates for the four products subject to the new law, from the
current 50-60 percent to 80-90 percent in the year 2008. It suggest that
the rates could be increased by recycling more plastic materials. The
provisional report admits, however, that recycling synthetic resins is
difficult at present, as compared with that of metals and glass, and that it
is not easy to impose obligations on manufactures to recycle by the year
2008, under the assumption that technological developments will make this
possible..........
ASIA ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW July/August 1999 Vol. V, Issue 3
CHINA Motorola backs battery recycling scheme
In early June, a Chinese recycling firm called China Green Enterprise
launched a battery recycling program, in co-operation with Motorola and the
State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA)......
Realizing that its brand name could potentially be tarnished if its toxic
waste ended up in dump sites, in 1998 Motorola initiated a plan to ship
waste batteries to Japan for treatment. Although 600 kg of waste was
shipped for treatment, it was costly and time consuming. The new program
initiated by China Green Enterprises is called "Green Channel" and its
intended to establish a collection, storage, transport, recycling and
treatment system for end-of-life rechargeable batteries........
Motorola, however as a founding member, is providing the start up funding
and technical advice, a move perhaps reflecting its position as one of the
largest foreign investors in China. The support of SEPA was essential to
get the scheme established, especially in obtaining permission to ship
parts of the battery waste to France.
Regards,
Martin Bund Procurement Engineer
Motorola Ltd, Tel No +44 (0)1793 568940
16 Euroway, Mobile ++ 44 (0)7801 831661
Blagrove, Pager No ++ 44 (0)839 430806
Swindon, Fax No +44 (0)1793 568722
England. SN5 8YQ
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