What a load.
As a USA electronics Recycler, I am tired of people employing alleged dangers of lead in solder as posing any significant barrier to electronics recycling. I suppose those operating shredders might possibly, feasibly, see some level of lead dust from solder, but when other recycling businesses are processing thousands of tons of lead silica (CRTs) and even more lead acid car batteries (see below... how much lead are those recyclers "exposed to"? Should we stop recycling lead batteries?), concern over the amount in the solder in circuit boards (most of which are sent directly to a copper smelter anyway) seems a contrived afterthought.
My business' main barrier is that government pays environmentalists more to talk about recycling than I can afford to pay them to actually do it. Why should college grads take a job running a recycling business when they can sit in plush offices and not deal with truck drivers, clients, noise, and other actual activity?
Speaking of lead acid (auto) batteries, it's pretty effective legislation to just ban disposal and get out of the way. When disposal is banned, enough material becomes available for the free market to invest infrastructure. No one discusses white goods, auto batteries, or tire recycling in the USA, it's taken for granted they are all recycled at 80-90% rate, for a fee of $5 or so (less than a toll bridge, and not asked for as often).
Recycling is just so simple. If you can't stop the raw materials subsidies (easy thing #1, which would put quite a crimp in tin and silver by the way), easy thing #2 is to procure recycled content in government purchases (20% of copy paper sold to the USA government is "post consumer recycled content" - this could be done with copper or gold procurement, creating demand), and easy thing #3 is ban disposal so there's enough stuff to invest around. This government micromanagement of engineering uses is bad environmentalism.
Oh, I'd add www.wr3a.org to the list of Joe's recycling sites.
Below is excerpted from Waste Age, siting an even more thorough site http://www.batterycouncil.org/recycling.html
Lead Battery Recycling Rate Remains High
Chicago -- Between 1995 and 1999, the battery industry recycled 93.3 percent of the lead from used lead-acid batteries, mostly because mandatory battery collection take-back laws exist in 42 states, according to a Battery Council International's 1995-1999 National Recycling Rate Study.
The Battery Council International (BCI), the trade association for the lead-acid battery industry, tracks the lead recycling rate from used automotive, truck, motorcycle, marine, garden tractor and other lead-acid batteries.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Fjelstad" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2006 8:22 AM
Subject: Re: [LF] [TN] FW: [LF] RoHS Opposition (on Pb) isn't sound (SMT Sep 2006)
> Thanks Chris.
>
> That is encouraging news. I found also that the Sims Group out of the UK
> appears to be taking point on electronics recycling in a big way both in the UK
> and globally.
>
> http://www.sims-group.com/mirec/home/
>
> Any news of other electronics recycling centers in operation or on the
> horizon in the EU?
>
> The US seems to have many folks interested in the recycling business. Here
> are some web sites of note for reference.
>
> www.recyclingtoday.com
> www.iaer.org
> www.RecycleElectronics.com
> www.ecycleenvironmental.com
>
> Thanks again,,
> Joe
>
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