Summary

Focus on “Responsible Recycling” of old equipment

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A new, toxic ingredient is being added to landfills: unwanted electronic equipment, much of which contains toxic chemicals that can leach into the environment. The Metropolitan King County Council today took a step toward assuring proper disposal of the eWaste generated by County agencies, with its unanimous adoption of guidelines regarding the disposal of electronic devices such as computers, monitors, keyboards, televisions and cell phones.

“King County has a goal of zero waste by 2030, and keeping recyclable, environmentally-toxic electronic equipment out of our landfill is an important aim of that policy,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, chair of the Council’s Transportation, Economy and Environment Committee. “This legislation will ensure our eWaste is recycled in a safe and environmentally responsible way.”

The County Executive reports that King County agencies recycled over 90,000 pounds of electronic equipment in 2010. Electronic devices may include components that contain toxic chemicals such as polyvinyl chlorides, bromated flame retardants, antimony and its compounds, phthalates, beryllium, lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and others. The potential for such toxics to leach out of disposed electronic wastes and into the environment has led to disposal bans at some landfills, including King County’s Cedar Hills Regional Landfill.

A growing number of recycling processors are transporting eWaste to sites in developing countries in Africa and in China, which seek to recover valuable materials within electronic wastes, including copper, iron, silicon, nickel and gold. In some cases, the processing is done without proper controls, putting the people who break down the equipment, in danger. The residual electronic components are often abandoned on site, left to leach into the environment.

The ordinance adopted by the Council requires the County to contract with recyclers that follow the Basel Action Network standards for responsible recycling and reuse of electronic equipment, or comparable standards. The Basel Action Network is a Seattle-based advocacy organization dedicated to the proper disposal and recycling of electronic equipment in an effort to prevent the equipment from being exported to nations with limited capacity for enforcing standards for the protection of human health and the environment.