The Circular Future - A Quantum Lifecycle Partners podcast

42. Understanding E-Waste: Risks and Responsibilities

• Quantum Lifecycle Partners • Season 1 • Episode 42

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In this episode, Stephanie McLarty and Steven Napoli discuss the critical importance of responsible e-waste management and recycling. They explore the environmental and health risks associated with improper disposal of electronics, the role of certifications in ensuring safe and sustainable recycling practices, and the challenges faced in increasing awareness and participation in e-waste recycling. Steve shares insights on Terra's initiatives, the significance of certified recyclers, and how businesses can effectively manage their e-waste. The conversation emphasizes the need for education, awareness, and the responsibility of individuals and organizations to recycle electronics properly.

Takeaways

  • Certification ensures environmental health and safety.
  • Improper e-waste disposal poses significant health risks.
  • Only 22% of electronics are formally recycled.
  • Data security is a major concern in e-waste management.
  • Education is crucial for increasing recycling rates.
  • Companies face fines for improper e-waste handling.
  • Certification matters for long-term business sustainability.

 


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Want to be a guest on The Circular Future podcast? Email Sanjay Trivedi at strivedi@quantumlifecycle.com


Speaker 1:

Most people know it's not a good idea to throw electronics in the garbage. So where should e-waste go and why? Welcome to the Circular Future, your access to thought leaders and innovations. To help you be a business sustainability champion, even if it's not your core job. I'm your host. Stephanie McLarty, head of Sustainability at Quantum Lifecycle Partners. Stephanie McLarty, head of Sustainability at Quantum Lifecycle Partners. In episode 13, we covered a short and sweet episode of why certifications matter. Today we're diving deeper to understand the reasons to make sure your electronic waste goes to the right place and where e-waste should actually go. With me is Steve Napoli, president and CEO of Terra, the Electronics Reuse and Recycling Alliance. Under his leadership, terra has expanded to become the largest network of certified e-waste recyclers and IT asset disposition, or ITAD, providers in the world, with over 120 facilities across 12 countries. Welcome to the podcast, steve.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you, Stephanie. It's a real pleasure not only to be on this, but also to have you all as members.

Speaker 1:

Well, steve, we are excited to be members of TERRA, and many people know about TERRA. Some people may not be, so the first question I have for you is, really, what would be three things that the world should know about Terra?

Speaker 2:

Well, first of all, that Terra is an acronym. It stands for the Electronics Reuse and Recycling Alliance. We are a network exclusively available to those that have earned either an e-steward or an R2 certification, like Quantum. So that's very important that everybody in our network you can be assured, when you work with Terra, that you're working with somebody that's certified and, as you mentioned, we have 120 facilities across 12 countries, so we are the largest network of certified recyclers anywhere. I think the second thing that people will need to know is that the reason that we were created was this whole idea that certification matters, that companies like Quantum that have gone through these rigorous inspections and are audited on an ongoing basis are really the only ones that are trustworthy in this space to be able to manage your IT assets, whether they're being remarketed because there's still good life and value in reusing them, or if they're at end of life and they need to be sustainably recycled in a responsible way. That also makes sure that we're not doing anything to negatively impact either the environment or employee health. So that's the second thing, and the third thing to know is that one of the ways that we get that out into the marketplace is we have a program that we call done with it or done with IT, kind of depending if it's a business to business or a business to consumer audience.

Speaker 2:

And there we have a lot of different programs where we're doing things like digital inclusion. We're doing onsite events. We did recycling programs with companies like Walmart doing Christmas light recycling in a hundred plus stores here in the United States last Christmas. But we also have a mail-in component. So all over the United States and Canada if you want to mail in up to 150 pounds of recycling you can use this program.

Speaker 2:

And we've also then kind of extended it, so the idea that it's a box program to mailing material in. We've allowed our members to kind of use our technology and platform to do that for themselves if they don't offer a box program. And then we've done some additional things with some companies and some organizations where we just launched in the last quarter a program called Devices for Autism, because there are a lot of people in this space that employ people that are on the spectrum. They make very good employees. When you teach them how to disassemble a computer or laptop, they stay on task very well. So they make excellent employees and ITAD providers. So we're working with a nonprofit organization that hires folks on the spectrum, that is R2, certified that we're bringing in laptops and tablets that people can mail in at no charge and those devices are being refurbished and reused and helping to provide employment opportunities for people in the spectrum.

Speaker 1:

That sounds like an amazing program and doing so much good. And I love how you have this mail-in program, because people really struggle with what do I do with my e-waste? And it's so much more complex these days because, sure, we have all the laptops and the computers, the electronics that we think of, but you mentioned Christmas lights and that has a plug. At Quantum we say we deal with anything with a battery or a plug. There's so many things that fall within that spectrum, so that's great that you're offering that.

Speaker 2:

And there are so many places that are live, that live in recycling deserts right, I mean cities were pretty good. Here in the United States we've got places like Staples and Best Buy that take material, but if you're out in the country, you know you have very limited options. So having a mail-in program that's effective and efficient is a really good way to, you know, get material where it needs to go.

Speaker 1:

That's a really great point that we may not realize if we live within a city and have access to local programs and options. So, steve, I think people have, for the most part, a general understanding that electronics shouldn't go anywhere into waste, into the garbage, into landfill. But why exactly is that? What are the environmental and health risks associated with electronic waste?

Speaker 2:

Well, they're significant. And when you think about electronics it really kind of breaks down into two categories. You have metals and then you have plastics. And the metals you've got things like lead and mercury and arsenic and cadmium, all those heavy metals you know. If leached out into the environment of the, through the, into the you know water supply, they eventually get into our food, they eventually get into our animals and then we eat them. And you know, depending on the, you know the material that has very negative impacts, especially for children, on brain development, on on lungs, where you see children getting asthma, kidney function, neurological functions, sexual development problems.

Speaker 2:

With some of these materials, not so much prevalent here, maybe in the West, but in the areas that the West and places like Europe are dumping their e-waste on populations that can't handle it. It's becoming a real problem based on populations that can't handle it. It's becoming a real problem. One of the worst examples of that is the city of Abulagashi in Ghana, where it's so polluted that just to eat a chicken egg it has over 200 times the amount of mercury that's allowable in food. I mean it's very dangerous for these children that are in these areas. So there's that. And then on the plastic side. You know those brominated flame retardants, things that you know keep our electronics from catching fire when they get hot. You know those have. You know same thing very bad for our, you know, for young children especially, but very bad for all of us in terms of you know our neurological functions as well, as you know our, our, as our kidneys and our liver and things like that.

Speaker 1:

So I know Tara is a big proponent of certifications and using certified recyclers and, as you mentioned off the top and for everyone, we are a member of Tara and we're also at Quantum, a very proud R2 certified recycler. So, in your words, steve, why does certification matter in this space? It's protection.

Speaker 2:

Not only are you protecting your employees, because a component of these certifications is environmental, health and safety. That's paramount. If you're operating a business, you have to make sure you're taking care of your people. Secondly, it's about the material itself. So when you're bringing in material in, you're not experts in everything, so you're going to be downstreaming certain elements to other folks, other companies that process the different material than you all do. You want to have confidence that the people that are handling that are doing the same protecting their employees, protecting the environment with the way that they're reusing, recycling and capturing this material. So that's very critical. And then the third element of that protection piece is related to data security. You know there is information. Whether you're a healthcare systems or a bank or whomever you may be, as a customer of one of these R2 partners, they're destroying your data. That's critical. So you know there are millions of dollars being lost because data is escaping, and one of the reasons or one of the ways they're escaping is through neglect and the way people are handling their e-waste.

Speaker 1:

That is a huge risk for any company and even us as individuals as well. So, steve, I know that you call out specifically two certifications. One is the R2 certification through Sari, the other is eStewards. So why these two certifications?

Speaker 2:

Well, it's funny that both of them were kind of born of the same idea, which, 15, 20 years ago, the industry came together to decide that we really need to either self-regulate or the government's going to do it for us. So let's come up with a system of managing the way we handle our employee safety, the way we handle our downstreaming and materials, to make sure that we're doing this on the up and up. And these certifications require that they're audited. Your company is audited. Make sure that you're following these best practices, and on an ongoing basis, those audits continue. So it's not just what you get certified and forget about it. You get certified and you're constantly inspected.

Speaker 2:

So, for the companies and individuals that use the services you all provide, certification matters. Certification really matters because without it there is no guarantee, and that's what you guys are providing is that guarantee of sustainability, that guarantee of data security, and that's what companies and individuals need as it relates to eWay. So, with these two certifications they're the ones here really in North America that are prominent we are looking at a third certification, potentially as we expand, because we are in 12 countries and the European Union has their own certification standard called WeLABEX W-E-E-E-L-A-B-E-X, which we're considering adding, but that's a future development for us. We're really kind of still focused on building the North American market and then expanding beyond.

Speaker 1:

It makes so much sense that electronics should go to a certified, so few of electronics actually do so. Last week I was preparing for a presentation at one of our major clients and education for Circular Economy Month and I came across a stat that still only about 22% of electronics are collected formally for electronics recycling like for formal certified electronics recycling. There's still a huge portion of electronics that do not get recycled responsibly. Now, presumably some of that might be the electronic hibernation, where people are storing some of their devices and not doing anything with it, but a large chunk probably does go to uncertified recyclers. Do you have a sense of what that breadth might be?

Speaker 2:

I think it's very difficult. Some of the numbers that you do see like that 22%. The methodologies that I've seen on how they're collecting this information worry me a little bit that they're not necessarily capturing what the entire scope of the problem may be. That may be a small estimate. The size of the problem might be a lot bigger than we even know. But I do know.

Speaker 2:

As it relates to certified recycling, it's just a limited marketplace of people that are offering these services, so material kind of goes to the closest location. Unfortunately that's. One of the reasons we try to have such a big footprint is to be able to collect as much material and divert it to certified recyclers as possible. But here in the United States, for instance, only 25 states have e-waste laws at all. So if you're in my home state of Tennessee, there's nothing to say. You can't take that material and just throw it in the trash. There's nothing that's going to prohibit you from doing that. That's going to prohibit you from doing that. So educating the marketplace as to why it's important, the value of using a certified recycler in terms of remarketing dollars, potentially health and safety and bottom line security of your data is really critical to be able to expand the number of users of these services.

Speaker 1:

How much of it is an awareness challenge do you think, or are there other challenges beyond just people knowing about? A that it's the right thing to do, but B where to actually send it?

Speaker 2:

I think it's that. I think it's awareness and cost. So you know people talk about paper, plastic, glass and other traditional recyclables all the time. Electronics is kind of the redheaded stepchild of this industry. It doesn't get too much attention and it's unfortunate because it's the fastest growing waste stream. Right, it's delivering the most toxins into, or 70% of the toxins going into the waste stream are coming from our electronics.

Speaker 2:

But the problem is is that we look at it from, it's got a high cost associated with it, because that iPhone that we paid a thousand dollars for two years ago is now not worth more than about $25. And I can stick it in my drawer or I have pictures on it and I used to do my banking on it. Maybe I'll just hit it with a hammer and throw it in the trash. There are alternatives that people use instead of finding a better way to either reuse or recycle that device. So getting into the marketplace and educating the people as to why it's important, why it's a value, is a big critical deal, and the other is shrinking logistics make it easy for people, so the cost comes down.

Speaker 1:

And speaking of cost, I think one of the arguments around why recyclers wouldn't want to get certified is that they think it's expensive. It's expensive at the forefront, as you mentioned. It's something to maintain. Every year you have to get audited. There's costs associated with that. What's your response to that argument?

Speaker 2:

Well, you see that a lot. There are people that are out there that are actually saying we follow R2 standards, but they're not R2 certified. And what's important for, I think, the customers that are using those services is that guarantee, is that transparency, Because you know that a company like Quantum is going to get an audit. People are going to look at the books and make sure that the material you're handling is done properly. Nobody's doing that for these non-certified companies. So if I'm going to be risking my brand reputation on these services that are mission critical for me, even though it's a small piece of what I'm doing, I'm going to make sure that I'm doing it right. So to choose a company that is certified is a requirement in this day and age.

Speaker 1:

Now I would say from my observation that having a certification like R2 or eStewards is table stakes for working with mid-sized to large companies. If you do not have the certification, then you're not working with them. Has that been what you've experienced as well?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that's what we push. There know there are. Yeah, there are a lot of alternatives. You know I talk to people all the time. We pay for trash pickup every week or every month. You know every month that. You know we'll take a half eaten tuna fish sandwich and have no qualms about throwing it in the trash, but that wasn't free. We're paying for somebody to come and pick that up and put it in a landfill for us. You have to have the same mentality as it comes to your electronic waste that has your data on it and has a whole bunch of material that is very detrimental to our environment and people's health. There is a cost associated with it, not all the time. Sometimes the material that you're trading into these folks is going to bring you a return on investment, but all in all, you have to be responsible for the material that you're acquiring and make sure that it gets put into the right place when it's at end of life or when you're done with it.

Speaker 1:

I would also say one of the benefits we've seen at Quantum is that being certified and having to go through that process of an audit every year has really pushed us to keep improving and identify areas where we can do even better, and so it also shows like the evolution of the companies and the industry as well like to stay on top of what's the current best practices and where things are going as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and chief information officers and other people in the space that are getting more educated about this. So you are seeing a growth in the people that are demanding certification, which is great. That's a big part of what we're doing, but it's also educating the public and small business and other people that really need to kind of step up their game here. The public.

Speaker 1:

let's move into our how-to section, where I ask you how-to questions, and the first one is how to find a certified ITAD or recycling facility.

Speaker 2:

Well, very easy place is just to go to jointerraorg. As I mentioned, we got 120 facilities in our network in 12 countries. That's a place to go. You can contact us, but that only represents a portion of the folks that are certified out there. So we definitely want to make sure that we're promoting everybody, even though not everybody might not be a member. So the other place would be to go to you mentioned R2 and Siri. They maintain a site where you can search and find all of the folks that are certified across the globe. I think the total marketplace of certified facilities across the globe is something like 1,200 facilities in like 40 countries. So while we've got a good piece, siri has everybody and then for eStewards certified same thing On their website. That's where you'll find their information. It's eStewardsorg. Okay.

Speaker 1:

So it's straightforward Go online, go to jointerraorg Dot org. Dot org. Okay, had to make sure the suffix was correct, or Siri, or R2, or Eastwards. Okay, that's great. Next one how to get more complex businesses all on board. It's one thing for an organization who has one location to find the closest certified recycler, but I've even seen as Quantum has grown and we're now 12 locations across Canada one in Costa.

Speaker 1:

Rica. It gets more complex as you add more locations, but there's certain business models that are more complex to begin with, like franchises. So, steve, how do you get these complex businesses on board?

Speaker 2:

So that's where we're spending a lot of time and a lot of focus. I mean, think of just hospitality, think of Hilton Hotels. I mean thousands of facilities all across the world. Each one of those rooms has a television, a phone, a clock, batteries, remote controls, and they've got to be able to find, ultimately, when they kind of start taking this and focusing on it as an ESG opportunity to find some organizations that can help them with a global footprint, that's kind of where we step in is to say look, we're a one-stop shop, one neck to choke. You come to Terra, we can help connect you with the people that can help you, and so that's really important, because what companies are finding out?

Speaker 2:

If they don't, it's starting to get expensive, it's starting to get expensive. I've got just a little quick list here of companies just in the last couple of years that have gotten dinged for data breaches or other kind of e-waste leakage problems Morgan Stanley $60 million fine for incorrectly handling data. Home Depot, $28 million, target, $7.4 million that was both data security and leaving batteries and other electronics in a place that it shouldn't have been. Big lots. Walgreens, dollar general the list never ends. So when companies start talking about well, it's too expensive to use a certified recycler.

Speaker 1:

It's too expensive not to I would completely agree with that and we've we've touched on that on a few episodes, so thank you for hitting that point home again. Like coming back to your point around protection. This is your protection against that.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

Okay, last question, steve how to stay updated and educated in this space.

Speaker 2:

Well, one thing would be to join Terra. So we always constantly provide our members with good information. We do a webinar every month. We call them Third Thursday, terras Third Thursday of the month, at three o'clock Eastern time. We always do something that is involving this space. So put that on your calendar research papers that you were kind of identifying early on, and you're getting some of your, your data from which was the e, the global e-waste monitor. That comes about out about every two years. It is a publication that comes from the united nations and they do a pretty fair job of kind of identifying. You know where the material is coming from, what some of the issues are, what the global issues are although, again, some of their methodologies and how much they are saying is in the marketplace I question but nonetheless it's impactful. They were able to demonstrate just in this last report that every year and it's going to be growing at a pretty fast rate that the world created more e-waste last year than is the equivalent weight of the Great Wall of China.

Speaker 1:

That's going to be happening every year, growing at about a 25% clip at least till 2030. Wow. So again going back to, we need to make sure these electronics are managed responsibly, both from a company level and an individual level as well. So thanks for those insights around where to stay updated. We'll post the links in the show notes. Steve, thank you so much for this conversation. That word protection has really stuck out to me as a way to frame why it's important to use certified recyclers and also why it's important to get certified as well.

Speaker 2:

Steve, what would be one thing that you would leave our listeners with in terms of a piece of advice Would it be to get certified or would it be something else? Well, if I'm an ITAD provider or a recycler in this space today, yes, I'm getting certified because, as the trajectory of this industry is, people are going to be using certified exclusively. So if you want to have a long-term business, go in that direction. As it relates to the people that utilize those services, just one single word or two words certification matters. I think of it as one word because we use the hashtag certification matters on everything that we put out, but that's what it boils down to. You produce e-waste. You have a responsibility to yourselves, your employees, your shareholders, whomever. Do it in a responsible manner and find a certified recycler for help.

Speaker 1:

And hashtag certification matters. Hashtag certification matters. Thank you so much, Steve. This has been super insightful.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, Stephanie.

Speaker 1:

And remember, if you are looking for a certified partner to help you repair, reuse and recycle your electronics, we'd love to chat Head on over to quantumlifecyclecom and contact us. This is a Quantum Lifecycle podcast and the producer is Sanjay Trivedi. Thank you for being a Circular Future Champion in your company and beyond. Logging off.

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Stephanie McLarty

Host
Contributor

Sanjay Trivedi

Producer