Benefits ‘Significant’ From Oregon E-Waste Program, Report Says
Oregon’s “E-Cycles” producer responsibility-based e-waste recycling program “has produced significant environmental benefits since operations began in 2009,” the state Department of Environmental Quality said in a newly posted progress report on the status of the program. Under state law, the department must file the reports with the Oregon legislature every two years.
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Each year since the program began, “the weight of devices recycled and the number reused has increased, exceeding statewide recycling goals,” the report said. Preliminary figures show nearly 26 million pounds of devices were recycled and another 36,700 units were reused through the program during 2011 alone, it said. “Since 2009, Oregon E-Cycles recycling has saved approximately 1,050 billion BTUs of energy, which equates to approximately 8 million gallons of gasoline,” it said. “Net greenhouse gas reductions are estimated at 80,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, comparable to the benefit of eliminating tailpipe emissions from approximately 16,300 average passenger cars per year."
In its “oversight role,” the department “addresses any issues” that arise with the four recycling programs that comprise Oregon E-Cycles, the report said. In 2011, the department also did “oversight visits” at 20 percent of the e-waste collectors across the state that have registered with the program and at all in-state recycling facilities, it said. In those visits, the department “identified some concerns regarding facility operations and is following up with the recycling programs to ensure improvement,” it said. For example, a few facilities were storing e-waste “where they could be exposed to storm water,” it said. Others “lacked adequate plans” for managing broken CRTs, while others lacked adequate liability insurance, it said. Based on those results, the department plans “fewer but more targeted visits in 2012,” it said.
The department’s bottom-line assessment is that Oregon E-Cycles “is a successful product stewardship program where stakeholders have worked cooperatively to provide convenient, responsible recycling for the growing electronics waste stream,” the report said. “The program has significantly expanded opportunities for Oregonians to recycle electronic wastes and has shifted responsibility and costs for managing this waste from rate payers and local governments to product manufacturers, sellers and users."
One bugaboo, as the department has said in the past, is that the existing registration fee structure “has not generated sufficient revenue” to cover the program’s “start-up and ongoing operating costs,” the report said. That’s despite the fact that current operating costs are lower than had been forecast when the program was conceived five years ago, it said. The department also thinks “additional streamlining may further reduce costs,” it said.
Still, late last year, the department convened an advisory committee with representatives from all major stakeholders to help develop a new registration fee structure that will cover the program’s costs, the report said. The advisory committee will meet through this spring, and based on its recommendations, the department plans to propose a revised fee structure to the state’s environmental quality commission for adoption this summer, it said.