Regulation of E-Waste by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Who Must Comply
Businesses and other organizations that discard less than 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) per month of hazardous waste (including CRTs) are not regulated under most federal requirements (these wastes must still go to a facility authorized to receive solid waste). There are, however, many state regulations in existence that dictate the proper handling of e-waste.
What You Must Do
Due to the number of laws and specific state statutes that are currently in place, there is no magic wand for ensuring compliance. Knowledge of each state’s statutes is absolutely necessary to ensure proper disposal. Your account executive at SAMR is able to offer assistance.
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EPA Regulations
Regulation of E-Waste by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Source: Office of the Inspector General
Report No. 2004-P-00028
September 1, 2004
Recycling end-of-life electronics is an important and growing issue facing the electronics industry. Public awareness of the issue is rising, largely because it continues to draw significant media attention and is the subject of increased local, state, federal and international regulation.
The use of electronic devices for both business and personal use has increased dramatically in recent years. Environmental concerns with electronics are associated with the dramatic increase in the volume of E-waste – a waste stream estimated to be growing approximately three times as fast as the rest of the municipal waste streams. The national volume of E-waste is estimated at over 2 million tons per year, and approximately 90 percent of this waste may be ultimately disposed at municipal solid waste landfills.
This estimate includes approximately 50 million computers becoming obsolete each year, with over 300 million obsolete computers estimated by 2005. The problem with E-waste is not just the volume of waste generated, but also the volume of hazardous chemicals associated with E-waste.
Most electronic devices contain a printed wiring board and battery, and these and other components may contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, beryllium, nickel, zinc, copper, cadmium and flame retardants. Each CRT (cathode ray tube) contains approximately 4 to 8 pounds of lead, which correlates to 300 million pounds of lead from the 50 million computers estimated to become obsolete each year. Approximately 70 percent of the heavy metals in municipal solid waste landfills are estimated to come from electronics discards. Heavy metals such as lead and mercury are highly toxic substances that can cause well documented adverse health effects, particularly to children and developing fetuses.
Regulation of E-Waste by RCRA
E-waste is not explicitly regulated as hazardous waste at the national level. However, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C was established to ensure that hazardous waste is managed in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment. Accordingly, hazardous waste disposed in a landfill must be disposed at designated hazardous waste landfills with additional regulatory controls, rather than municipal solid waste landfills.
However, hazardous waste from households and businesses generating hazardous waste below the defined regulatory threshold may dispose of their waste at municipal solid waste landfills. One way in which hazardous wastes may be defined under RCRA is their potential for leaching of hazardous chemicals. Among E-waste chemicals that have been tested, lead has been shown to exceed the leachate levels for cathode ray tubes, and OSW is currently finalizing a rule to define acceptable management standards for these devices. OSW is currently investigating which other types of E-waste, such as LCDs, computers and keyboards, could present hazardous characteristics.
The Hazards of Recycling Computer Junk
Recycling of hazardous products has little environmental benefit – it simply moves the hazards into secondary products that eventually have to be disposed of. Unless the goal is to re-design the product to use non-hazardous materials, such recycling is a false solution.
The list of e-toxic components in computers includes:
- Computer circuit boards containing heavy metals like lead & cadmium
- Computer batteries containing cadmium
- Cathode ray tubes with lead oxide & barium
- Brominated flame-retardants used on printed circuit boards, cables and plastic casing
- Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) coated copper cables and plastic computer casings that release highly toxic dioxins & furans when burnt to recover valuable metals
- Mercury switches
- Mercury in flat screens
- Poly Chlorinated Biphenyl’s (PCB’s) present in older capacitors & transformers
The E-waste issue has moved into prominence in the last few years, in part because the environmentalists have been able to gain major media attention to the issue. As of September 2003, there were a record 52 electronics bills in 26 state legislatures, and 65 mercury-related restriction bills, 10 of which affect electronics.
Recycling of computer parts and accessories will become increasingly regulated as environmental groups and lawmakers bring more pressure on this issue. Re-use, rather than recycling, will become one of the few methods to dispose of IT Assets safely and without fear of regulatory action.
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EPA Regulations
Regulation of E-Waste by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Small Quantities Exempt:
Businesses and other organizations that discard less than 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) per month of hazardous waste (including used CRTs) are not regulated under most federal requirements. (These wastes must still go to a facility authorized to receive solid waste.)
Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators:
Full Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste regulations do not apply to these businesses and other organizations that generate less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of hazardous waste per calendar month.
Large Quantities:
Wastes from facilities that generate over 100 kilograms (about 220 lb.) per month of hazardous waste are regulated under federal law when disposed. CRTs from such facilities sent for disposal must be manifested and sent as “hazardous waste” to a permitted hazardous waste landfill. CRTs sent for recycling from such facilities are also currently subject to Federal regulation; however, EPA is in the process of streamlining requirements to make it easier and less costly to send CRTs for recycling. A proposed rule was issued in June 2002 and public comments are under review. Any changes in regulation will take effect in 2004.
In the meantime, some states are addressing this issue, for example by handling these materials as universal waste, and thereby reducing the management requirements applicable to the recycling of CRTs. Therefore, organizations should consult their states.
In 1995, EPA promulgated the Universal Waste Rule to exempt certain widely generated wastes that contain hazardous materials, such as thermostats and fluorescent lamps, from having to meet all hazardous waste requirements under RCRA. By lowering administrative burdens, the rule is intended to reduce hazardous waste in municipal solid waste (MSW), encourage recycling and proper disposal of certain hazardous wastes, and reduce administrative and regulatory burdens for businesses that generate these wastes. The Universal Waste Rule currently includes hazardous waste batteries, certain agricultural pesticides, thermostats, and hazardous waste lamps. States that are authorized to implement the RCRA program may add other wastes to their Universal Waste Rule but a number of states are interpreting RCRA to not require the full hazardous waste requirements on CRTs. However, EPA is planning to add used CRTs from computers and television monitors to the federal Universal Waste Rule. In addition, EPA is currently developing a regulatory exemption for processed glass sent for CRT glass-to-glass recycling.
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EPA Regulations
Regulation of E-Waste by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
EPA FY 2004 Enforcement Secures Cleanups Worth a Record $4.8 Billion Preventing One Billion Pounds of Pollution
Contact: Cynthia Bergman 202-564-9828 / bergman.cynthia@epa.gov
(Washington, D.C.-November 15, 2004) EPA enforcement actions concluded in fiscal year (FY) 2004 will reduce a projected one billion pounds of pollution and require cleanups estimated to total a record $4.8 billion – significant increases from last year. Other annual measures of the Agency’s enforcement and compliance activity – such as the number of inspections (up 11 percent from FY 2003) and investigations (up 32 percent from FY 2003) – surpassed or kept pace with previous years, indicating continued progress in deterring violations of the nation’s environmental laws and reflecting an emphasis on environmental benefits and compliance.
In addition to the record environmental benefit and cleanup figures resulting from Agency actions during FY 2004, EPA estimates that 3.4 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment and 9.5 million cubic yards of groundwater will be cleaned up, 1,300 acres of wetlands will be protected, and the drinking water of four million Americans will comply with EPA standards. Of the 4,257 cases concluded by EPA in FY 2004, 83 percent resulted in actions to bring facilities into compliance with environmental laws.
Each fiscal year, EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance compiles a range of data to track national environmental results and enforcement and compliance activity. Projected pollution reductions and the estimated dollar value of required cleanup, or injunctive relief, are annual indicators of results from EPA’s environmental enforcement. Pollution estimates project the amount of pollution that will be reduced, treated or properly managed as a result of EPA enforcement actions concluded during the fiscal year. The information is used to gauge enforcement results and activity and guide program priorities.
FY 2004 Enforcement and Compliance Accomplishments:
- One Billion Pounds of Pollution Reductions – As a result of cleanup commitments reached in FY 2004, EPA estimates that one billion pounds of pollution will be reduced, treated, or properly managed, an increase of 67percent from last year.
- Record-Breaking Injunctive Relief Increases 66 Percent – The estimated dollar value of compliance actions required by EPA in FY 2004 will total $4.8 billion – a new EPA record and a 66 percent increase from FY 2003.
- Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) Increase 42 Percent – EPA obtained 213 SEPs in FY 2004 – a 42 percent increase compared to FY 2003’s 150 SEPs. The dollar value of SEPs in FY 2004 was $48 million, compared to FY 2003’s $65 million. Of the 213 SEPs in FY 2004, 26 will be performed in environmental justice communities. SEPs are environmentally beneficial projects that a violator voluntarily agrees to perform as part of an enforcement settlement. SEPs go beyond what is required of a violator to return to compliance with environmental requirements.
- Compliance Incentive Program Addresses 14 Percent More Facilities – Under EPA’s Compliance Incentive Program, the number of facilities resolving self-disclosed violations increased 14 percent in FY 2004 to 969 – up from 848 in FY 2003.
- Compliance Assistance Reaches More Than 730,000 – EPA data shows that 731,000 businesses and individuals received assistance from EPA in FY 2004 to help understand and comply with environmental laws. EPA compliance assistance reached 721,000 in FY 2003.
- EPA Final Administrative Penalty Orders Increase 32 Percent – EPA finalized 2,248 civil administrative penalty actions in FY 2004 – up 32 percent over 1,706 in FY 2003.
- Inspections and Evaluations to Determine Compliance Increase 11 Percent – In FY 2004, EPA conducted 21,000 inspections, up from FY 2003 with 18,880.
- Civil Investigations Increase 32 Percent – In FY 2004, EPA initiated 455 civil investigations, a 32 percent increase over the 344 investigations in FY 2003.
- Facilities Disclosing Environmental Violations Double – In FY 2004, 1223 facilities self-disclosed environmental violations to EPA. In FY 2003 there were 614 facilities that self-disclosed violations.
- EPA Charges 46 more Criminal Defendants – EPA enforcement charged 293 defendants with environmental crimes in FY 2004, 46 more defendants than in FY 2003.
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EPA Regulations
Regulations of E-Waste by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
How to Comply
Due to the number of laws and specific state statutes that are currently in place or soon to be in place, there is no magic wand for ensuring compliance. The best recommendations available for large generators of E-Waste are to:
- Implement company wide procedures for end of life IT Assets
- Determine company wide goals for re-use and recycling rather than landfill dumping.
- Designate one or more employees to coordinate the end of life IT Asset program.
- Establish contractual arrangements with a reputable contractor to handle your end of life IT Asset removal.
- Ask the contractor to provide documentation of EPA certification.
- Ask the contractor to provide documentation of re-use, recycle and landfill usage percentages of the IT Assets they are provided.
- Regularly monitor and audit internal procedures to ensure compliance with stated policies.
- Regularly monitor and audit service providers to ensure compliance with stated goals and policies
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