by Elizabeth Hines | Oct 10, 2017 | Blog, Consumer Electronics, Current Events, Manufacturing & Distribution, Strategy, Supply Chain
Of legal obligation, financial incentives, and convenience, what best drives consumers to practice proper e-waste recycling?
The United States is a nation of consumers, and there are few things we enjoy more than our electronic gadgets. Unfortunately, for every new device — or upgrade — introduced to the market, there’s an older model that becomes obsolete.
The world produced 41.8 million metric tons of e-waste in 2014, according to a study published by the United Nations University. So how can we combat this growing problem?
The recycling option… and sometimes law
Recycling products that we’re no longer using is always good practice. It can help protect the environment from hazards that are in our electronics and batteries. And many times, the device can be refurbished and donated to a person in need.
Sometimes just asking people to recycle isn’t enough, though. Some governments have made it illegal not to recycle. For example, the EU has gone so far as to institute the Battery Directive. Understanding that batteries commonly contain elements such as mercury, cadmium, and lead, the EU has set an objective of improving environmental performances of batteries, and setting a standard for their waste management as well.
In the United States, cities like New York City have made it illegal to simply throw out electronic devices. Instead, residents need to bring their devices to a recycling center, many of them conveniently located at other electronic retail outlets.
Incentives
If less hazardous waste in landfills, a cleaner environment, and compliance with laws and regulations aren’t enough, how about saving money as an incentive to recycle e-waste?
Many manufacturers and retailers offer discounts on purchases with the return of old devices. Best Buy, for example, has experimented with trade-in and recycling programs that offer gift cards or cash for customers who bring in old devices. As programs like this can leave the retailer struggling to break even, they often aren’t financially attractive enough to be the sole incentive drawing consumers to recycle e-waste.
But one incentive that is very effective is also, probably, the most obvious — convenience. One survey found that 43% of respondents would be more likely to recycle e-waste were cell phone and battery recycling part of curb-side pickup.
The convenience of curb-side pickup for paper, plastic, and aluminum helped to make recycling ubiquitous in neighborhoods across the country. It’s the same thought process that leads researchers to believe that the convenience of a curb-side pickup will encourage more individuals to recycle their electronic devices and batteries.
This post originally appeared on EBN Online.
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by Fronetics | Aug 26, 2015 | Blog, Consumer Electronics, Strategy, Supply Chain
Source: University of Wisconsin -Madison
In 2014 the global consumer electronic market was valued at $1,224.8 billion. Future Market Insights projects that the market will reach $2,976.1 billion by 2020, reflecting a CAGR of 15.4% during the forecast period, 2015 – 2020. As the industry grows, driven by our desire for new technology, so does the amount of electronic waste (e-waste).
Right now 70% to 80% of our old gadgetry goes straight into landfills. According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global volume of e-waste generated is expected to reach 93.5 million tons in 2016, up from 41.5 million tons in 2011 at a compound annual growth rate of 17.6%. This waste contains hazardous materials which are harmful to human health and to the environment and are both non-renewable and non-biodegradable.
Semiconductor chips are one of the contributors to the hazardous materials found in e-waste. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin recently announced that they have created a new computer chip – one that is biodegradable and one which reduces the amount of semiconducting material used in manufacturing by a factor of up to 5,000. In spite of these changes, the new chip performs at the same level as traditional chips.
The new computer chip retains the active components of traditional chips, but in the base layer the new chip replaces silicon with cellulose nanofibril (CNF), a flexible, biodegradable material made from wood. This change means that the computer chip can decompose in nature.
In a press release Zhenqiang “Jack” Ma, research lead and UW-Madison electrical and computer engineering professor, says this about the new chips: “Now the chips are so safe you can put them in the forest and fungus will degrade it. They become as safe as fertilizer.”
While these new chips are game-changing with respect to human health and the environment, they are also poised to transform the consumer electronics industry. The transformative nature of the chips, and the one that will likely be the tipping point to adoption, is their transparency and flexibility.
Ma’s new chips are ready for commercialization.
by Elizabeth Hines | Sep 5, 2012 | Blog
The closing of the democratic and republican national conventions these last weeks mark the beginning of the final push of this presidential election season. More than likely, the primary election issues that will be on everyone’s mind are the economy, employment, the debt, and healthcare. These topics as well as other important issues will be heavily debated in the coming weeks. During these debates, the twenty-four hour news cycle will remind us of the red state vs. blue state position as well as the all-important “toss-up” states and their reaction to the candidates’ remarks on these important issues. Piggy-backing on this theme, I thought it would be interesting to compare the red, blue, and toss-up state positioning to the e-waste debate and current e-waste regulations. Although what we found is not earth-shattering or inconsistent to our intuition on how e-waste regulation aligns with the red/blue state mapping, it does represent a thematic approach to how these states think about and act on broader issues with similar themes.
Before we dive into the data, here are a couple of caveats. This information should not be taken to suggest any particular political statement or alignment. It should also not be thought of as a statistical prognostication of how any state will vote their electoral or “swing” their votes. What this information presents is a comparison of current e-waste regulations and policies, by state, compared to the blue, red, and toss-up state mapping as indicated by CNN (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2012/electoral-map.html). I would also like to give credit to my summer intern, Robert Leighton, who did all the heavy lifting on this in terms of research and data comparison.
Below you will find the blue, red, and toss up state alignment as indicated by CNN (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2012/electoral-map.html)
| 20 Red
15 Blue
15 (Toss-up) |
|
|
Now let’s look at the Red/Blue state configuration in terms of e-waste regulation.
Total number of States with e-waste laws and/or regulations: 28
Republican
- 6 out of 28 states with e-waste laws/regulations are Republican
- Chances of being a Republican state and having an e-waste law is 12% (Calculated through conditional probability)
Democratic
- 13 out of 28 states with e-waste laws/regulations are
- Chances of being a Democratic state and having an e-waste law is 28% (Calculated through conditional probability)
Total number of States with no current e-waste laws or regulations: 22
Republican
- 14 states in total
- Of the 14, only 1 has a bill currently being proposed (Nebraska)
- Of 20 Republican states, 70% have no e-waste laws or regulations
Democratic
- 1 state in total (Delaware)
- Less than 7% (6.67%) of 15 Democratic states have no e-waste laws or regulations
Summary
- Strong correlation between having an e-waste law and being a Democratic (blue) state
- 3 states with no current rule or regulation have e-waste bills currently being discussed
- 2 Toss-up States (Colorado and Ohio)
- 1 Republican State (Nebraska)
- Toss-up states split between having e-waste laws or not (8 out of 15 have at least one)
As you may have guessed, if you live in a so-called ‘Blue” state, you tend to favor protective regulation such as e-waste laws; if you live in a “Red” state, not so much. And if you live in a “toss-up” state, well… it’s a toss-up.
by Elizabeth Hines | Feb 22, 2012 | Blog, Strategy
Over time, we discovered that throwing electronics away is extremely damaging to the environment. With the increasing innovation of new and trendy electronic devices continually entering the marketplace, there is high turnover and greater demand than ever before. Manufacturers and retailers are seeking partnerships with third party logistics (3PL) providers that can decrease e-waste through reverse logistics for used and outdated devices. With consumers more concerned about their carbon footprint, manufacturers and retailers as well as their supply chain partners have a commitment to reducing negative impact on the environment.
Fortunately, profitable businesses that have capitalized on this emerging green and are known as “urban miners.” In general, there are now two primary methods for disposing of our personal e-waste supply.
- Trade in the device for the latest model. This is common with smartphones, since they’re small and easy to carry. The process is convenient for the providers and device manufacturers as well. It’s the proverbial “win-win.”
- “Take-back” events. Typically orchestrated and sponsored by your local municipality, school, or civic organization, these are a local recycle e-waste process. It’s best for devices that are not readily exchangeable in their current form. You’ve probably seen flyers or advertisements encouraging you to bring your dead electronics to a local school parking lot or municipal depot where they will be loaded on a truck, never to be seen again, all in the name of charity and ecology.
There’s Gold in ‘Urban Mining’
While the local organization that hosts the event gets a portion of the fees paid to dispose of the electronics, it’s the e-waste disposal companies that do especially well.
Known as “Urban Miners” in the disposal world, these e-waste disposal companies aggregate millions of pounds of commodities that are bought and sold in a secondary market every day and shipped all over the world. E-waste disposal companies are mining items like plastics, precious and non-precious metals, and rare earth minerals from our basements and closets. It’s one of the most profitable and reliable forms or reverse supply chain.
There is no better testament to the old adage, “One man’s trash is another man’s gold.” I’m not saying this is an easy process. You need to be able to aggregate tons of e-waste material (literally) in order to make money. You need to have the “right” e-waste material, meaning recyclable and not so much disposable, and you need to have your fixed costs low enough to be able to afford the high-touch breakdown process. That’s one reason you see these take-back events popping up more often. These aggregators need tonnage in order to make the model work.
Sometimes they win. Sometimes they lose. But they are providing a service by relieving us of our e-waste in a compliant manner; and they’re supporting the charity or organization with some sort of share of the day’s take, and keeping the green theme going… thus, a win-win-win.
Today’s modern-day gold rush is happening right in our neighborhoods and cities. Instead of a pick and shovel, urban miners’ tools are a truck, a forklift, and a well-placed flyer.
