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OEM COMPLIANCE NEWS WINTER 2018 Sims Participates in Seventh Basel Expert Working Group’s Environmentally Sound Management Meeting
P
atricia Whiting, senior international policy analyst, participated in the seventh meeting of the Basel Expert Working Group (EWG) on Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) held from November 13-15, 2017 in Accra, Ghana. The Ghanaian EPA hosted the meeting with funding contributed by the governments of Germany and Japan. A large segment of the meeting focused on the development of a guidance manual on recycling and recovery, and ESM of transboundary movement (TBM). Additionally, the EWG launched new guidance on the informal sector and continued ongoing work on: • • • • •
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and financing models, Certification schemes to support ESM, Prevention and minimization guidance, Pilot projects, and the EWG tool kit promotion and dissemination.
In closing the meeting, the Secretariat informed the EWG that the next Open-Ended Working Group will take place Sep. 7-11, 2018 and the next Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention will be Apr. 29 – May 10, 2019. Finally, the group discussed the timing of the next EWG meeting and it was agreed that we will meet in either September or October of 2018. Side Trip to Agbogbloshie The group visited Agbogbloshie, what journalists have billed as the “world’s largest e-waste dump” which provided insight to the informal sector. Agbogbloshie sits on former wetlands and is located in the suburbs of Accra. It is 20 miles from the Tema port, where allegedly 215,000 tons of second hand consumer devices are imported annually from Western Europe and the United States. Journalists have covered this dump extensively in the context of developed countries carrying out unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries despite 1
the prohibition of this practice by the Basel Convention. The informal sector comes from villages and work approximately five months of the year here to provide for their families. It is estimated that 40,000 people work here each year and earn $1 to $2.50 a day. Agbogbloshie consists of acre-upon-acre of not only e-waste but also tires, scrapped auto parts, refrigerators, bicycles and all types of metal scrap. There was a lot of open-air activity including open burning, with goats and cows picking through the trash for food, as well as more organized areas with shacks selling food and repaired computers. It was difficult to find actual soil to walk on, as the ground was littered with circuit boards and other debris. On a Side Note Sims Recycling Solutions’ 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 where we do business. Accra is the capital of Ghana and the Greater Accra Region’s economic and administrative center. It is Ghana’s most populous and metropolitan city, with glittering beaches and 17th century castles standing alongside modern skyscrapers. A veritable melting pot of cultures, the city’s central financial and shopping districts contrast sharply with the less affluent residential areas surrounding the urban core. Sims wishes to especially thank the Ghanaian government and, in particular, Dr. Sam Adu-Kumi and his colleagues from the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency for hosting a successful meeting. In addition, Sims wishes to thank the governments of Germany and Japan for funding the meeting and finally, the Basel Convention Secretariat for their continued administrative, legal and technical support.
Legislative Updates: NEW JERSEY State Implements Second Phase of Convenience-Based E-waste Law Passed in January 2017 and rolled out in phases over the year, New Jersey’s new e-waste law is now fully in effect. More stringent population-based collection requirements have been established and desktop printers and fax machines were added to the definition of covered electronic devices (CEDs) in January 2018. School districts, state entities and local governments are now also included in the definition of covered consumers making them eligible to receive OEM-funded CED collection and recycling services. Additionally, all OEM collection goals are now set through a market share versus a return share formula and more stringent financial penalties are in place for OEMs that fail to meet their collection goal. Requirements rolled out in 2017 included annual registration and fee requirements for out of state recyclers, semi-annual reporting for all stakeholders, and new OEM collection plan submittal deadlines. If the law does not work to provide broad year-round collection coverage across the state, a provision within gives the state the option to move to a state-run program in the future.
S
ILLINOIS
WISCONSIN
The Consumer Electronics Recycling Act (passed in 2017) is set to replace Illinois’ current e-waste law in 2019, but slow movement by the legislature on a proposed anti-trust amendment to develop an OEM-run coordinating clearinghouse and allocation formula for OEM obligations has left many stakeholders in the dark regarding how to plan for 2019.
ims 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].
Program Year 8 Report Shows Recycling Demand Continues to Outpace OEM Targets The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) published its annual e-Cycle Wisconsin program report in December and as in years past, the program continues to see a large disparity between consumer recycling demand and mandated OEM recycling targets. In Program Year 8 (July 1, 2016-June 30, 2017) registered collectors took in 30.1 million pounds of eligible devices for recycling, but OEM statewide targets were only 22.8 million pounds, a 25 percent or 7 million pound difference. The DNR attributes the continued weight discrepancy to the statutory weightbased formula used to develop targets and manufacturer design improvements to reduce product weight over time. OEM recycling targets have declined by more than 10 million pounds (32 percent) over the last four years. The DNR’s recommendations for remedying the weight disparity and other program issues include: •
• • • •
2
Basing the OEM target formula on total weight of eligible devices received for recycling in prior years versus weight of current device sales. Moving the program year to a calendar year to match the program stakeholder budget cycle. Ensuring adequate rural collection coverage by replacing the current rural collection incentive with an alternative measure. Reducing or eliminating registration fees for very small OEMs. Updating and clarifying device definitions to better fit the changing nature of electronics.
Pending Anti-trust Amendment to New Law Impacting Implementation Planning
State Senator Pamela Althoff tried to introduce the proposed amendment into the Senate Environment and Energy Committee during the legislature’s November veto session, but it was determined that additional research by the legislature was needed and the issues could wait until the beginning of the new legislative session starting mid-January 2018. The Act states that two or more OEMs that comprise 50 percent or more of statewide covered product market share, can form an OEM clearinghouse. The clearinghouse was to provide instructions to counties on how to opt into a 2019 OEM-sponsored collection and recycling program by Dec. 1, 2017. To date they have only been able to post “how to get ready” to opt in instructions on the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEAP) website. Counties have until Mar. 1 to opt in. OEMs must in turn submit collection plans to the IEPA by July 1. The lack of information regarding the passage of an anti-trust agreement, how the clearinghouse will work, how county collection obligations will be allocated to OEMs, and how many of Illinois’ 102 counties will actually opt in to a program, has left many stakeholders unsure of their financial obligations and/or role in the collection and recycling process in 2019. Sims anticipates more information will be available by early February.
Sims’ Newly Released 2017 Sustainability Report Focuses on Continued Performance Improvements Sims Metal Management, the parent company of Sims Recycling Solutions and one of the world’s leading publicly traded metal, electronics and municipal recyclers, announced in its Fiscal Year 2017 Sustainability Report that it had again achieved consistent yearover-year safety and sustainability performance improvements. Sims has 200 facilities located throughout 20 different countries and approximately 4,500 employees worldwide. The company’s aim is to be the world’s safest and most responsible recycling company by maintaining a zero harm workplace, being an exemplary member of the communities in which they operate, and acting as responsible stewards of the environment. Fiscal year 2017 highlights include the following changes from fiscal year 2016: • • • • •
36% decline in employee lost-time injuries 10% decline in recordable employee injuries 6% decline in CO2 emissions 9% decline in water consumption 23% reduction in waste
Sims has been named in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for nine consecutive years, and is the only recycling company to have been nominated among the world’s 100 most sustainable companies for five consecutive years by the World Economic Forum in Davos. In its efforts to strive for continued improvement, Sims has set a variety of new benchmarks across all businesses for 2020.
Supporting Local Recycling Organizations Sims Recycling Solutions believes it is important to support local recycling organizations in communities where we provide services. Sims Recycling Solutions and Sims Municipal Recycling were sponsors of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers first 5K Run/Walk for Recycling held on November 4 at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, NJ. Andriana Kontovrakis of Sims Recycling Solutions and Maite Quinn of Sims Municipal Recycling both served on the event organizing committee. Andriana Kontovrakis of Sims Recycling Solutions (center left) with ANJR 5K Walk/Run volunteers
Subscribe to the OEM Compliance Newsletter 1600 Harvester Road, West Chicago, IL 60185 866.922.8252 / [email protected] / www.simsrecycling.com © 2018 Sims Recycling Solutions Holdings, Inc. is a business of Sims Metal Management, Limited.
OEM COMPLIANCE NEWS WINTER 2018 Sims Participates in Seventh Basel Expert Working Group’s Environmentally Sound Management Meeting
P
atricia Whiting, senior international policy analyst, participated in the seventh meeting of the Basel Expert Working Group (EWG) on Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) held from November 13-15, 2017 in Accra, Ghana. The Ghanaian EPA hosted the meeting with funding contributed by the governments of Germany and Japan. A large segment of the meeting focused on the development of a guidance manual on recycling and recovery, and ESM of transboundary movement (TBM). Additionally, the EWG launched new guidance on the informal sector and continued ongoing work on: • • • • •
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and financing models, Certification schemes to support ESM, Prevention and minimization guidance, Pilot projects, and the EWG tool kit promotion and dissemination.
In closing the meeting, the Secretariat informed the EWG that the next Open-Ended Working Group will take place Sep. 7-11, 2018 and the next Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention will be Apr. 29 – May 10, 2019. Finally, the group discussed the timing of the next EWG meeting and it was agreed that we will meet in either September or October of 2018. Side Trip to Agbogbloshie The group visited Agbogbloshie, what journalists have billed as the “world’s largest e-waste dump” which provided insight to the informal sector. Agbogbloshie sits on former wetlands and is located in the suburbs of Accra. It is 20 miles from the Tema port, where allegedly 215,000 tons of second hand consumer devices are imported annually from Western Europe and the United States. Journalists have covered this dump extensively in the context of developed countries carrying out unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries despite 1
the prohibition of this practice by the Basel Convention. The informal sector comes from villages and work approximately five months of the year here to provide for their families. It is estimated that 40,000 people work here each year and earn $1 to $2.50 a day. Agbogbloshie consists of acre-upon-acre of not only e-waste but also tires, scrapped auto parts, refrigerators, bicycles and all types of metal scrap. There was a lot of open-air activity including open burning, with goats and cows picking through the trash for food, as well as more organized areas with shacks selling food and repaired computers. It was difficult to find actual soil to walk on, as the ground was littered with circuit boards and other debris. On a Side Note Sims Recycling Solutions’ 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 where we do business. Accra is the capital of Ghana and the Greater Accra Region’s economic and administrative center. It is Ghana’s most populous and metropolitan city, with glittering beaches and 17th century castles standing alongside modern skyscrapers. A veritable melting pot of cultures, the city’s central financial and shopping districts contrast sharply with the less affluent residential areas surrounding the urban core. Sims wishes to especially thank the Ghanaian government and, in particular, Dr. Sam Adu-Kumi and his colleagues from the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency for hosting a successful meeting. In addition, Sims wishes to thank the governments of Germany and Japan for funding the meeting and finally, the Basel Convention Secretariat for their continued administrative, legal and technical support.
Legislative Updates: NEW JERSEY State Implements Second Phase of Convenience-Based E-waste Law Passed in January 2017 and rolled out in phases over the year, New Jersey’s new e-waste law is now fully in effect. More stringent population-based collection requirements have been established and desktop printers and fax machines were added to the definition of covered electronic devices (CEDs) in January 2018. School districts, state entities and local governments are now also included in the definition of covered consumers making them eligible to receive OEM-funded CED collection and recycling services. Additionally, all OEM collection goals are now set through a market share versus a return share formula and more stringent financial penalties are in place for OEMs that fail to meet their collection goal. Requirements rolled out in 2017 included annual registration and fee requirements for out of state recyclers, semi-annual reporting for all stakeholders, and new OEM collection plan submittal deadlines. If the law does not work to provide broad year-round collection coverage across the state, a provision within gives the state the option to move to a state-run program in the future.
S
ILLINOIS
WISCONSIN
The Consumer Electronics Recycling Act (passed in 2017) is set to replace Illinois’ current e-waste law in 2019, but slow movement by the legislature on a proposed anti-trust amendment to develop an OEM-run coordinating clearinghouse and allocation formula for OEM obligations has left many stakeholders in the dark regarding how to plan for 2019.
ims 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].
Program Year 8 Report Shows Recycling Demand Continues to Outpace OEM Targets The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) published its annual e-Cycle Wisconsin program report in December and as in years past, the program continues to see a large disparity between consumer recycling demand and mandated OEM recycling targets. In Program Year 8 (July 1, 2016-June 30, 2017) registered collectors took in 30.1 million pounds of eligible devices for recycling, but OEM statewide targets were only 22.8 million pounds, a 25 percent or 7 million pound difference. The DNR attributes the continued weight discrepancy to the statutory weightbased formula used to develop targets and manufacturer design improvements to reduce product weight over time. OEM recycling targets have declined by more than 10 million pounds (32 percent) over the last four years. The DNR’s recommendations for remedying the weight disparity and other program issues include: •
• • • •
2
Basing the OEM target formula on total weight of eligible devices received for recycling in prior years versus weight of current device sales. Moving the program year to a calendar year to match the program stakeholder budget cycle. Ensuring adequate rural collection coverage by replacing the current rural collection incentive with an alternative measure. Reducing or eliminating registration fees for very small OEMs. Updating and clarifying device definitions to better fit the changing nature of electronics.
Pending Anti-trust Amendment to New Law Impacting Implementation Planning
State Senator Pamela Althoff tried to introduce the proposed amendment into the Senate Environment and Energy Committee during the legislature’s November veto session, but it was determined that additional research by the legislature was needed and the issues could wait until the beginning of the new legislative session starting mid-January 2018. The Act states that two or more OEMs that comprise 50 percent or more of statewide covered product market share, can form an OEM clearinghouse. The clearinghouse was to provide instructions to counties on how to opt into a 2019 OEM-sponsored collection and recycling program by Dec. 1, 2017. To date they have only been able to post “how to get ready” to opt in instructions on the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEAP) website. Counties have until Mar. 1 to opt in. OEMs must in turn submit collection plans to the IEPA by July 1. The lack of information regarding the passage of an anti-trust agreement, how the clearinghouse will work, how county collection obligations will be allocated to OEMs, and how many of Illinois’ 102 counties will actually opt in to a program, has left many stakeholders unsure of their financial obligations and/or role in the collection and recycling process in 2019. Sims anticipates more information will be available by early February.
Sims’ Newly Released 2017 Sustainability Report Focuses on Continued Performance Improvements Sims Metal Management, the parent company of Sims Recycling Solutions and one of the world’s leading publicly traded metal, electronics and municipal recyclers, announced in its Fiscal Year 2017 Sustainability Report that it had again achieved consistent yearover-year safety and sustainability performance improvements. Sims has 200 facilities located throughout 20 different countries and approximately 4,500 employees worldwide. The company’s aim is to be the world’s safest and most responsible recycling company by maintaining a zero harm workplace, being an exemplary member of the communities in which they operate, and acting as responsible stewards of the environment. Fiscal year 2017 highlights include the following changes from fiscal year 2016: • • • • •
36% decline in employee lost-time injuries 10% decline in recordable employee injuries 6% decline in CO2 emissions 9% decline in water consumption 23% reduction in waste
Sims has been named in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for nine consecutive years, and is the only recycling company to have been nominated among the world’s 100 most sustainable companies for five consecutive years by the World Economic Forum in Davos. In its efforts to strive for continued improvement, Sims has set a variety of new benchmarks across all businesses for 2020.
Supporting Local Recycling Organizations Sims Recycling Solutions believes it is important to support local recycling organizations in communities where we provide services. Sims Recycling Solutions and Sims Municipal Recycling were sponsors of the Association of New Jersey Recyclers first 5K Run/Walk for Recycling held on November 4 at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater, NJ. Andriana Kontovrakis of Sims Recycling Solutions and Maite Quinn of Sims Municipal Recycling both served on the event organizing committee. Andriana Kontovrakis of Sims Recycling Solutions (center left) with ANJR 5K Walk/Run volunteers
Subscribe to the OEM Compliance Newsletter 1600 Harvester Road, West Chicago, IL 60185 866.922.8252 / [email protected] / www.simsrecycling.com © 2018 Sims Recycling Solutions Holdings, Inc. is a business of Sims Metal Management, Limited.
