OEM COMPLIANCE NEws - Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)
THE
OEM COMPLIANCE News SPRING 2017
Sixth Basel Convention ESM Expert Working Group Meeting Recap
Patricia
Whiting, senior international policy analyst
c.
waste lead vehicles,
with Sims Recycling Solutions’ (SRS) original equipment
d.
medical or health care waste,
manufacturer (OEM) compliance team attended the sixth
e.
waste oils,
meeting of the Basel Convention’s Environmentally Sound
f.
and waste pneumatic tyres, and
Management (ESM) Expert Working Group (EWG) in
2.
Another to work on the waste prevention
Mechelen, Belgium from Jan. 17-19, 2017. The meeting
guidance document.
was hosted by the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM).
The first group was chaired by Andreas Jaron of the German Ministry of Environment and Joost Meijer of the
Various experts representing Basel Parties, academia,
Chilean Ministry of Environment. The second group was
non-governmental organizations, and the private sector
chaired by Yorg Aerts of OVAM and Leila Davis of the
met to finalize a number of items in advance of the Basel
Basel Convention Regional Center in Argentina. Much of
Council of the Parties meeting in April 2017. Materials
this work consisted of weighing comments received on
finalized included “practical manuals” and fact sheets
final drafts and incorporating them as the group considered
geared toward fostering the ESM of hazardous waste in
appropriate. Additionally, the EWG worked on evaluating a
developing countries. Manuals and fact sheets covered the
future work plan and drafting Conference of Parties (COP)
topics of extended producer responsibility (EPR), finance,
decision text supporting the ultimate adoption of these
and waste minimization.
documents and a work plan by the Basel Convention.
After briefly discussing the work program the first morning,
The meeting also included a visit to a local reuse center (De
two contact groups were established which included:
Kringwinkel or “Circular Shop”) with an on-site repair facility
1
1.
One to tackle the EPR and finance manuals, in
addition to fact sheets on a.
electric or electronic-waste,
b.
end-of-life vehicles,
to learn about the non-profit organization’s collection, repair and sales model for used electronic devices and numerous other potentially reusable consumer items like furniture. Continued on page 2
Continued from page 1
Mechelen is a historically important city located halfway between Antwerp and Brussels on the river Dyle in the
The center we visited has five stores in the area of Brussels.
center of Flanders, one of the three regions in Belgium. It
De Kringwinkel is a chain of similar centers throughout
was once the capital of the Netherlands under Margaret of
the Flemish region in Belgium that employs more than
Austria and is well known for its wood carvings and lace
5,000 people, many of which whom have difficulty finding
and tapestry manufacture.
conventional employment in the job market. On a Personal Note Sims Recycling Solutions’ (SRS) involvement in the EWG provides us the opportunity to interface with global experts from all paradigms and enhance our knowledge not only of the issues surrounding ESM, and materials and waste management in general, but also of the people and cultures
SRS wishes to thank the Belgian government and, in particular, Yorg Aerts and his colleagues from OVAM for hosting a successful meeting. In addition, SRS wishes to thank the German, Japanese and Swiss governments for funding the meeting and finally, the Basel Convention Secretariat for their continued administrative, legal and technical support of our work.
where we do business.
In the States: Legislative Updates
Sims Recycling Solutions continues to regularly track legislative and regulatory activity pertaining to electronics take back
laws around the world. The following outlines current activity across the United States. For information about legislative activity anywhere in the world, email us at [email protected]. ILLINOIS Convenience Standards and Consumer Fees are Focus of Proposed Law Overhaul
Stakeholder meetings over the past year with Illinois State Representative McAsey and Senator Althoff have produced a draft bill that will overhaul the state’s beleaguered Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act. The draft language has not been introduced into the legislature yet but placeholder bills have been introduced (Senate Bill 1616 and House Bill 2836) for when it’s ready. See Legislative Updates, continued on page 3 2
See Legislative Updates, continued from page 2 Implementation of the proposed bill would begin in 2019. The draft bill would: • Require OEMs to submit a plan to the state to operate a number of collection sites based on a predetermined
formula (using population density) and market share. OEMs would collectively have to run some type of clearing
house to ensure adequate collection coverage is available statewide and year round. • Allow collectors to charge consumers fees to cover collection costs. OEMs will only be responsible for covering
transport and recycling costs.
• Reduce the number of covered device categories from 17 to five. This would include televisions and desktop
computers, monitors, small scale servers and printers. The 12 other currently covered device types may be
reclassified as eligible electronic devices – thus decreasing the number of OEMs financially responsible to participate
under the law.
MICHIGAN Stakeholders Look to Reduce Product Categories and Assess Statewide Coverage Since January the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has hosted a series of phone calls with a broad group of stakeholders affected by the state’s e-waste take back law to determine how to enhance a version of 2016’s failed Senate bill SB 922 and have it reintroduced in the current legislative session. Discussions have not included changing the “non-binding” nature of OEM collection and recycling targets set by the state. Instead focus has been on keeping the bill as written, with small adjustments such as: • Removing slate tablets from the definition of covered electronic devices (CEDs). • Adding a minimum screen size of seven inches to the definition of a tablet. • Adding “eligible electronic devices” to the law so that peripheral items (VCRs, DVD players, set top boxes, etc.) now
being collected at a cost to consumers can be included in OEM supported collection programs.
• Removing limitations on the use of OEM registration fees for the support of grants to county and municipal run
collection sites.
The group also decided to add items to the study list an Electronics Waste Advisory Committee established by the bill will undertake. They include: • Revisiting the definition of CEDs in the future to determine if “detachable” tablets and laptops should still be
considered CEDs.
• Undertaking a “Convenient Access Study” to assess where all actual CED locations across the state are and what
they are collecting. Results would be reported within one year of the effective date of the bill’s passage.
• Examining a Canadian-style advance fee study for potential guidance with future state grants to collectors. NEW YORK Bill Introduced to Address Late Announcement of OEM Targets by Senate While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) continues to work on finalizing long awaited regulations to address implementation issues with the state’s electronics take back law, State Senator Thomas O’Mara introduced SB 2116 on Jan. 12 to push other needed changes to law. See Legislative Updates, continued on page 4 3
See Legislative Updates, continued from page 3 The bill passed out of the Senate Environmental Committee on Feb. 14 and is currently awaiting further action by the Senate. Starting in 2018, the bill would: •
Require the DEC to change the formula used to determine OEM annual recycling targets so that goals can be
published before a program year’s start, rather than 4-6 months into a program year as is currently happening.
The delay in publishing targets has made it difficult for all stakeholders to adequately plan ahead and establish
ongoing contracts for collection and recycling.
•
Make OEMs certify to the DEC that they have entered into contractual agreements for 100 percent of their recycling
target by mid-June, and
•
Allow collectors and recyclers to bank saleable credits for any over collection of covered devices. Currently only OEMs can bank credits.
A similar bill was introduced by Senator O’Mara in 2016, but failed to leave the Senate. It is anticipated, the DEC will not publish finalized regulations until late 2017 or 2018.
Sims Recycling Solutions Achieves NAID AAA Certification
Sims Recycling Solutions is proud to announce that
“Data protection regulations now require customers to verify and monitor specific aspects of their service provider’s capabilities and procedures,” says NAID CEO Bob Johnson. “By adding NAID AAA Certification to their
its U.S. on-site destruction services are now nationally
qualifications, a company has validated that they meet
AAA Certified by the National Association for Information
those security and regulatory requirements. In that regard,
Destruction (NAID).
their NAID Certification actually makes their customers
NAID AAA Certification
creates
and
verifies
the
compliant with their responsibilities.”
qualifications of certified information destruction providers,
“We are pleased to have our on-site security services
like SRS. This rigorous process ensures that the data
now certified to a standard that is recognized across the
security needs of global enterprises meet numerous
globe,” stated Steve Skurnac, president of SRS.
laws and regulations requiring protection of confidential customer information. 4
NAID AAA Certification, continued on page 5
NAID AAA Certification, continued from page 4
About NAID
“The whole certification process validates and, in some cases, improves the care to which we protect and destroy our client’s data regardless of where the data resides in an electronic asset. It is our hope that this standard, in conjunction with our other security and environmental certifications, gives evidence of our commitment to keep moving the bar higher.”
The National Association for Information Destruction, Inc. (NAID) is the international trade association for companies providing information destruction services. NAID currently represents over 1,900 member company locations globally. NAID’s mission is to promote the information destruction industry and the standards and ethics of its member companies.
Sims Recycling Solutions sees on-site data destruction as another tool that SRS can offer to help enterprises put together robust and safe data destruction programs. Most companies are able to provide a piece of the program while Sims is proud to offer an end-to-end desktop-todisposition service offering.
Community Spotlight In each newsletter Sims Recycling
Tell us about Mexican laws impacting electronics recycling
Solutions provides a featured
and product stewardship
interview of a customer, partner or colleague within the field of IT asset disposition or recycling. These
interviews
provide
an
opportunity to learn about the different aspects of electronic equipment disposal from an economic, environmental or social perspective. This issue profiles, Mauricio LLamas, a Partner in the Mexico City office of the law firm Jones Day.
In 2004 the General Law for the Prevention and Comprehensive Management of Wastes became effective and it was a game changer in this field for Mexico. This law established new policies and goals in the matter, focusing on reduction and recycling, including the concepts of “Valorization”, “Shared Responsibility” and the figure of “Wastes’ Management Plans”. The law included a list of hazardous wastes, which are of federal jurisdiction, subject to such Management Plans.
What is your role at Jones Day? I am a partner of the Government Regulation Practice of the firm, in charge of the Environmental, Health and Safety
This list included those containing mercury, cadmium or lead, leaving applicable parameters and specifications to technical standards that needed to be developed.
areas of the Mexico City Office, coordinating the team
It also created a new category of non-hazardous wastes,
advising on regulation, compliance, strategy and litigation in
called “special management wastes”, coming from
these matters, with special emphasis in waste management
commercial services and industrial activities. This list
and recycling, contaminated site liability, site abandonment
included specifically those from the electric and IT sectors,
and closure procedures, exploitation of natural resources,
named “technological wastes”, considered of state
environmental impact, product stewardship, development
jurisdiction. Lastly, it maintained the concept of solid urban
of legislative initiatives, and implementation of sustainable
wastes, for household-like wastes, of municipal jurisdiction.
energy and infrastructure projects. 5
The law indicated that, the criteria to determine wastes
A strong discussion on the matter between the government
under these two last categories subject to management
and representatives of the IT and batteries sector
plans would be established in the technical standards to
resulted in the suspension of law initiatives and standards
be developed.
proposals in such regard, but that we expect to continue.
While the law contained several advanced concepts
In parallel, a long term struggle to issue a standard to
and polices, it lacked a clear position towards e-waste,
appropriately determine hazardousness of batteries has
leaving room for interpretation on their classification
been taking place, ending with a proposed standard that
(as hazardous, special management and/or solid urban
includes specific cadmium and mercury allowable limits,
wastes). This generated uncertainty on their applicable
that would give ground to the classification of the majority
jurisdiction and management.
of used batteries as non-hazardous wastes, but that
From that point, driven more by non-profit organizations
unfortunately has not been enacted.
and the relevant actors of the IT sector than a specific public
With that said, the idea that e-waste is generally non-
policy, the government took some initiative to establish
hazardous, and that such classification would be the
a diagnostic of the e-waste generation in Mexico, in an
only one that could effectively drive an e-waste recycling
effort to generate guidelines and applicable standards for
market, has been more and more accepted by the
their recycling. Information on the matter was included
federation and local governments. Since 2008 some
in the 2012 Basic Diagnostic for the Prevention and
local governments have established guidelines and
Comprehensive Management of Wastes, setting a goal
policies for special management wastes plans in general
to generate a national e-waste management plan, which
and e-waste in particular, recognizing and registering IT
has not been generated to date.
industry voluntary take back programs.
For many years after that, no relevant developments in the
Furthermore, late last year, legislators proposed a bill to
matter of e-waste management occurred in Mexico, but
modify the Federal Consumer’s Protection Law, giving
certain actors of the industry sought recognition of their
consumers the right to obtain repair services for electronic
voluntary take back programs and started discussions
products they purchase so that product obsolescence and
with the agencies on the matter. As part of this effort and
waste may be reduced. Even though it is not technically a
with the active participation of the IT industry, the federal
waste regulation because it does not provide obligations
government issued the Mexican Official Standard NOM-
for those who generate e-waste, it shows that a sector
161-SEMARNAT-2011 (NOM-161) in 2013. NOM-161
of the Mexican government is worried about the present
contains the list of special management wastes subject to
issue that e-waste represents.
a management plan and procedures for the formulation of such plans. It also contains a list of “technological wastes”,
There are a number of third-party-certified electronics
including all PCs and laptops and their accessories, cell
recyclers in Mexico and a robust informal recycling
phones, monitors, TVs, printers and cables, among others.
industry. Is the recycling infrastructure adequate to
While NOM-161 provided a level of certainty, at least on
address the country’s needs?
the classification of listed e-wastes and their applicable
IT penetration in Mexico has increased exponentially in
jurisdiction, provisions in the General Waste Law
the last 15 years, particularly with regards to cell phones
continued to create conflict. Such conflict included the
and other mobile devices. Currently the number of people
interpretation from certain NGOs that all e-waste and
with access to technologies in Mexico is in the order of 60
used batteries should be considered hazardous and
million, and more than 77 million people own a cell phone.
subject to a management plan, which would make them
Our incipient recycling infrastructure started developing late
highly difficult and unnecessarily expensive to manage.
and of course has not been able to keep up with this growth.
6
While for many years there has been a certain level of
Although, I also believe, that no country in the region has
primary and inefficient recovery of valuable materials
implemented effective e-waste and product stewardship
from e-waste, a formal recycling industry did not start
laws, resulting in the real valorization of a relevant
developing until 8-10 years ago.
percentage of e-waste generated. Regarding product
With certain exceptions, certified recyclers are mostly a result of the IT industry sector needing to develop a local solution for the application of their take back and global recycling programs.
restrictions are scarce and with exceptions, as in the case of Chile. The region seems to rely upon international provisions
We believe that at a high level, the principal obstacle is the lack of education on the matter that should be based upon a clear and coordinated public policy and that, at a practical level, the challenge is the impossibility of establishing national or regional, cost-efficient e-waste collection and consolidation schemes, that can allow for their real valorization, instead of just allowing “cherrypicking” for
stewardship, regulations in the matter of materials
more valuable materials and disposal of
less valuable materials such as plastics, glass and nonvaluable metals, for which the market is not ready.
applicable to electronics and IT products, under the consideration that manufacturers produce to sell to the regulated markets of the United States, Europe and Asia, the same products that will be commercialized in the Latin America. You are a professor of environmental law at Universidad Anahuac Law School, what type of national or international issues are your students most interested in? In recent years, climate change and global warming are the topics that students are more interested in, I believe as
Where have electronics recycling and product stewardship
a result of the media coverage that these matters have. At
laws been implemented and proven effective in other
a postgraduate level, the energy sector seems to be the
parts of Latin America? What is typically the driver?
area of more interest, derived from the recent substantial
Although I am not an expert on other Latin-American jurisdictions, I believe Chile, Costa Rica and Argentina are countries that have more consistently developed
amendment of Mexico’s laws on hydrocarbons’ exploitation and electric generation, allowing full participation from the private sector.
and applied e-waste policies and provisions based upon international policies and guidelines, including those of the Basel Convention. The views and opinions set forth herein are the personal views or opinions of the author; they do not reflect views or opinions of the law firm with which he is associated.
Subscribe to the OEM Compliance Newsletter 1600 Harvester Road, West Chicago, IL 60185 866.922.8252 / [email protected] / www.simsrecycling.com © 2016 Sims Recycling Solutions Holdings, Inc. is a business of Sims Metal Management, Limited.
OEM COMPLIANCE News SPRING 2017
Sixth Basel Convention ESM Expert Working Group Meeting Recap
Patricia
Whiting, senior international policy analyst
c.
waste lead vehicles,
with Sims Recycling Solutions’ (SRS) original equipment
d.
medical or health care waste,
manufacturer (OEM) compliance team attended the sixth
e.
waste oils,
meeting of the Basel Convention’s Environmentally Sound
f.
and waste pneumatic tyres, and
Management (ESM) Expert Working Group (EWG) in
2.
Another to work on the waste prevention
Mechelen, Belgium from Jan. 17-19, 2017. The meeting
guidance document.
was hosted by the Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM).
The first group was chaired by Andreas Jaron of the German Ministry of Environment and Joost Meijer of the
Various experts representing Basel Parties, academia,
Chilean Ministry of Environment. The second group was
non-governmental organizations, and the private sector
chaired by Yorg Aerts of OVAM and Leila Davis of the
met to finalize a number of items in advance of the Basel
Basel Convention Regional Center in Argentina. Much of
Council of the Parties meeting in April 2017. Materials
this work consisted of weighing comments received on
finalized included “practical manuals” and fact sheets
final drafts and incorporating them as the group considered
geared toward fostering the ESM of hazardous waste in
appropriate. Additionally, the EWG worked on evaluating a
developing countries. Manuals and fact sheets covered the
future work plan and drafting Conference of Parties (COP)
topics of extended producer responsibility (EPR), finance,
decision text supporting the ultimate adoption of these
and waste minimization.
documents and a work plan by the Basel Convention.
After briefly discussing the work program the first morning,
The meeting also included a visit to a local reuse center (De
two contact groups were established which included:
Kringwinkel or “Circular Shop”) with an on-site repair facility
1
1.
One to tackle the EPR and finance manuals, in
addition to fact sheets on a.
electric or electronic-waste,
b.
end-of-life vehicles,
to learn about the non-profit organization’s collection, repair and sales model for used electronic devices and numerous other potentially reusable consumer items like furniture. Continued on page 2
Continued from page 1
Mechelen is a historically important city located halfway between Antwerp and Brussels on the river Dyle in the
The center we visited has five stores in the area of Brussels.
center of Flanders, one of the three regions in Belgium. It
De Kringwinkel is a chain of similar centers throughout
was once the capital of the Netherlands under Margaret of
the Flemish region in Belgium that employs more than
Austria and is well known for its wood carvings and lace
5,000 people, many of which whom have difficulty finding
and tapestry manufacture.
conventional employment in the job market. On a Personal Note Sims Recycling Solutions’ (SRS) involvement in the EWG provides us the opportunity to interface with global experts from all paradigms and enhance our knowledge not only of the issues surrounding ESM, and materials and waste management in general, but also of the people and cultures
SRS wishes to thank the Belgian government and, in particular, Yorg Aerts and his colleagues from OVAM for hosting a successful meeting. In addition, SRS wishes to thank the German, Japanese and Swiss governments for funding the meeting and finally, the Basel Convention Secretariat for their continued administrative, legal and technical support of our work.
where we do business.
In the States: Legislative Updates
Sims Recycling Solutions continues to regularly track legislative and regulatory activity pertaining to electronics take back
laws around the world. The following outlines current activity across the United States. For information about legislative activity anywhere in the world, email us at [email protected]. ILLINOIS Convenience Standards and Consumer Fees are Focus of Proposed Law Overhaul
Stakeholder meetings over the past year with Illinois State Representative McAsey and Senator Althoff have produced a draft bill that will overhaul the state’s beleaguered Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act. The draft language has not been introduced into the legislature yet but placeholder bills have been introduced (Senate Bill 1616 and House Bill 2836) for when it’s ready. See Legislative Updates, continued on page 3 2
See Legislative Updates, continued from page 2 Implementation of the proposed bill would begin in 2019. The draft bill would: • Require OEMs to submit a plan to the state to operate a number of collection sites based on a predetermined
formula (using population density) and market share. OEMs would collectively have to run some type of clearing
house to ensure adequate collection coverage is available statewide and year round. • Allow collectors to charge consumers fees to cover collection costs. OEMs will only be responsible for covering
transport and recycling costs.
• Reduce the number of covered device categories from 17 to five. This would include televisions and desktop
computers, monitors, small scale servers and printers. The 12 other currently covered device types may be
reclassified as eligible electronic devices – thus decreasing the number of OEMs financially responsible to participate
under the law.
MICHIGAN Stakeholders Look to Reduce Product Categories and Assess Statewide Coverage Since January the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has hosted a series of phone calls with a broad group of stakeholders affected by the state’s e-waste take back law to determine how to enhance a version of 2016’s failed Senate bill SB 922 and have it reintroduced in the current legislative session. Discussions have not included changing the “non-binding” nature of OEM collection and recycling targets set by the state. Instead focus has been on keeping the bill as written, with small adjustments such as: • Removing slate tablets from the definition of covered electronic devices (CEDs). • Adding a minimum screen size of seven inches to the definition of a tablet. • Adding “eligible electronic devices” to the law so that peripheral items (VCRs, DVD players, set top boxes, etc.) now
being collected at a cost to consumers can be included in OEM supported collection programs.
• Removing limitations on the use of OEM registration fees for the support of grants to county and municipal run
collection sites.
The group also decided to add items to the study list an Electronics Waste Advisory Committee established by the bill will undertake. They include: • Revisiting the definition of CEDs in the future to determine if “detachable” tablets and laptops should still be
considered CEDs.
• Undertaking a “Convenient Access Study” to assess where all actual CED locations across the state are and what
they are collecting. Results would be reported within one year of the effective date of the bill’s passage.
• Examining a Canadian-style advance fee study for potential guidance with future state grants to collectors. NEW YORK Bill Introduced to Address Late Announcement of OEM Targets by Senate While the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) continues to work on finalizing long awaited regulations to address implementation issues with the state’s electronics take back law, State Senator Thomas O’Mara introduced SB 2116 on Jan. 12 to push other needed changes to law. See Legislative Updates, continued on page 4 3
See Legislative Updates, continued from page 3 The bill passed out of the Senate Environmental Committee on Feb. 14 and is currently awaiting further action by the Senate. Starting in 2018, the bill would: •
Require the DEC to change the formula used to determine OEM annual recycling targets so that goals can be
published before a program year’s start, rather than 4-6 months into a program year as is currently happening.
The delay in publishing targets has made it difficult for all stakeholders to adequately plan ahead and establish
ongoing contracts for collection and recycling.
•
Make OEMs certify to the DEC that they have entered into contractual agreements for 100 percent of their recycling
target by mid-June, and
•
Allow collectors and recyclers to bank saleable credits for any over collection of covered devices. Currently only OEMs can bank credits.
A similar bill was introduced by Senator O’Mara in 2016, but failed to leave the Senate. It is anticipated, the DEC will not publish finalized regulations until late 2017 or 2018.
Sims Recycling Solutions Achieves NAID AAA Certification
Sims Recycling Solutions is proud to announce that
“Data protection regulations now require customers to verify and monitor specific aspects of their service provider’s capabilities and procedures,” says NAID CEO Bob Johnson. “By adding NAID AAA Certification to their
its U.S. on-site destruction services are now nationally
qualifications, a company has validated that they meet
AAA Certified by the National Association for Information
those security and regulatory requirements. In that regard,
Destruction (NAID).
their NAID Certification actually makes their customers
NAID AAA Certification
creates
and
verifies
the
compliant with their responsibilities.”
qualifications of certified information destruction providers,
“We are pleased to have our on-site security services
like SRS. This rigorous process ensures that the data
now certified to a standard that is recognized across the
security needs of global enterprises meet numerous
globe,” stated Steve Skurnac, president of SRS.
laws and regulations requiring protection of confidential customer information. 4
NAID AAA Certification, continued on page 5
NAID AAA Certification, continued from page 4
About NAID
“The whole certification process validates and, in some cases, improves the care to which we protect and destroy our client’s data regardless of where the data resides in an electronic asset. It is our hope that this standard, in conjunction with our other security and environmental certifications, gives evidence of our commitment to keep moving the bar higher.”
The National Association for Information Destruction, Inc. (NAID) is the international trade association for companies providing information destruction services. NAID currently represents over 1,900 member company locations globally. NAID’s mission is to promote the information destruction industry and the standards and ethics of its member companies.
Sims Recycling Solutions sees on-site data destruction as another tool that SRS can offer to help enterprises put together robust and safe data destruction programs. Most companies are able to provide a piece of the program while Sims is proud to offer an end-to-end desktop-todisposition service offering.
Community Spotlight In each newsletter Sims Recycling
Tell us about Mexican laws impacting electronics recycling
Solutions provides a featured
and product stewardship
interview of a customer, partner or colleague within the field of IT asset disposition or recycling. These
interviews
provide
an
opportunity to learn about the different aspects of electronic equipment disposal from an economic, environmental or social perspective. This issue profiles, Mauricio LLamas, a Partner in the Mexico City office of the law firm Jones Day.
In 2004 the General Law for the Prevention and Comprehensive Management of Wastes became effective and it was a game changer in this field for Mexico. This law established new policies and goals in the matter, focusing on reduction and recycling, including the concepts of “Valorization”, “Shared Responsibility” and the figure of “Wastes’ Management Plans”. The law included a list of hazardous wastes, which are of federal jurisdiction, subject to such Management Plans.
What is your role at Jones Day? I am a partner of the Government Regulation Practice of the firm, in charge of the Environmental, Health and Safety
This list included those containing mercury, cadmium or lead, leaving applicable parameters and specifications to technical standards that needed to be developed.
areas of the Mexico City Office, coordinating the team
It also created a new category of non-hazardous wastes,
advising on regulation, compliance, strategy and litigation in
called “special management wastes”, coming from
these matters, with special emphasis in waste management
commercial services and industrial activities. This list
and recycling, contaminated site liability, site abandonment
included specifically those from the electric and IT sectors,
and closure procedures, exploitation of natural resources,
named “technological wastes”, considered of state
environmental impact, product stewardship, development
jurisdiction. Lastly, it maintained the concept of solid urban
of legislative initiatives, and implementation of sustainable
wastes, for household-like wastes, of municipal jurisdiction.
energy and infrastructure projects. 5
The law indicated that, the criteria to determine wastes
A strong discussion on the matter between the government
under these two last categories subject to management
and representatives of the IT and batteries sector
plans would be established in the technical standards to
resulted in the suspension of law initiatives and standards
be developed.
proposals in such regard, but that we expect to continue.
While the law contained several advanced concepts
In parallel, a long term struggle to issue a standard to
and polices, it lacked a clear position towards e-waste,
appropriately determine hazardousness of batteries has
leaving room for interpretation on their classification
been taking place, ending with a proposed standard that
(as hazardous, special management and/or solid urban
includes specific cadmium and mercury allowable limits,
wastes). This generated uncertainty on their applicable
that would give ground to the classification of the majority
jurisdiction and management.
of used batteries as non-hazardous wastes, but that
From that point, driven more by non-profit organizations
unfortunately has not been enacted.
and the relevant actors of the IT sector than a specific public
With that said, the idea that e-waste is generally non-
policy, the government took some initiative to establish
hazardous, and that such classification would be the
a diagnostic of the e-waste generation in Mexico, in an
only one that could effectively drive an e-waste recycling
effort to generate guidelines and applicable standards for
market, has been more and more accepted by the
their recycling. Information on the matter was included
federation and local governments. Since 2008 some
in the 2012 Basic Diagnostic for the Prevention and
local governments have established guidelines and
Comprehensive Management of Wastes, setting a goal
policies for special management wastes plans in general
to generate a national e-waste management plan, which
and e-waste in particular, recognizing and registering IT
has not been generated to date.
industry voluntary take back programs.
For many years after that, no relevant developments in the
Furthermore, late last year, legislators proposed a bill to
matter of e-waste management occurred in Mexico, but
modify the Federal Consumer’s Protection Law, giving
certain actors of the industry sought recognition of their
consumers the right to obtain repair services for electronic
voluntary take back programs and started discussions
products they purchase so that product obsolescence and
with the agencies on the matter. As part of this effort and
waste may be reduced. Even though it is not technically a
with the active participation of the IT industry, the federal
waste regulation because it does not provide obligations
government issued the Mexican Official Standard NOM-
for those who generate e-waste, it shows that a sector
161-SEMARNAT-2011 (NOM-161) in 2013. NOM-161
of the Mexican government is worried about the present
contains the list of special management wastes subject to
issue that e-waste represents.
a management plan and procedures for the formulation of such plans. It also contains a list of “technological wastes”,
There are a number of third-party-certified electronics
including all PCs and laptops and their accessories, cell
recyclers in Mexico and a robust informal recycling
phones, monitors, TVs, printers and cables, among others.
industry. Is the recycling infrastructure adequate to
While NOM-161 provided a level of certainty, at least on
address the country’s needs?
the classification of listed e-wastes and their applicable
IT penetration in Mexico has increased exponentially in
jurisdiction, provisions in the General Waste Law
the last 15 years, particularly with regards to cell phones
continued to create conflict. Such conflict included the
and other mobile devices. Currently the number of people
interpretation from certain NGOs that all e-waste and
with access to technologies in Mexico is in the order of 60
used batteries should be considered hazardous and
million, and more than 77 million people own a cell phone.
subject to a management plan, which would make them
Our incipient recycling infrastructure started developing late
highly difficult and unnecessarily expensive to manage.
and of course has not been able to keep up with this growth.
6
While for many years there has been a certain level of
Although, I also believe, that no country in the region has
primary and inefficient recovery of valuable materials
implemented effective e-waste and product stewardship
from e-waste, a formal recycling industry did not start
laws, resulting in the real valorization of a relevant
developing until 8-10 years ago.
percentage of e-waste generated. Regarding product
With certain exceptions, certified recyclers are mostly a result of the IT industry sector needing to develop a local solution for the application of their take back and global recycling programs.
restrictions are scarce and with exceptions, as in the case of Chile. The region seems to rely upon international provisions
We believe that at a high level, the principal obstacle is the lack of education on the matter that should be based upon a clear and coordinated public policy and that, at a practical level, the challenge is the impossibility of establishing national or regional, cost-efficient e-waste collection and consolidation schemes, that can allow for their real valorization, instead of just allowing “cherrypicking” for
stewardship, regulations in the matter of materials
more valuable materials and disposal of
less valuable materials such as plastics, glass and nonvaluable metals, for which the market is not ready.
applicable to electronics and IT products, under the consideration that manufacturers produce to sell to the regulated markets of the United States, Europe and Asia, the same products that will be commercialized in the Latin America. You are a professor of environmental law at Universidad Anahuac Law School, what type of national or international issues are your students most interested in? In recent years, climate change and global warming are the topics that students are more interested in, I believe as
Where have electronics recycling and product stewardship
a result of the media coverage that these matters have. At
laws been implemented and proven effective in other
a postgraduate level, the energy sector seems to be the
parts of Latin America? What is typically the driver?
area of more interest, derived from the recent substantial
Although I am not an expert on other Latin-American jurisdictions, I believe Chile, Costa Rica and Argentina are countries that have more consistently developed
amendment of Mexico’s laws on hydrocarbons’ exploitation and electric generation, allowing full participation from the private sector.
and applied e-waste policies and provisions based upon international policies and guidelines, including those of the Basel Convention. The views and opinions set forth herein are the personal views or opinions of the author; they do not reflect views or opinions of the law firm with which he is associated.
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