Working with others to affect the right change
The problem with e-waste and lagging legislation
Technology is moving faster than at any time in history. The advantages are life-changing, but so too are the disadvantages.
One of the considerable disadvantages is the generation of e-waste. Consider that the average lifespan of a smartphone is 2.5 years, game consoles are being changed over every other year and companies update their IT infrastructure every few years to respond to technological advancement. What is happening to the waste? How is it being regulated?
The short answer – it isn’t. E-waste legislation is lagging behind, in fact e-waste is the fastest growing solid waste stream on the planet – growing three times faster than the population according to the World Health Organisation.
Although governments are increasingly aware of this massive, growing problem, we still don’t have appropriate legislation to ensure it is treated properly, recycled at world-class rates, and those valuable commodities locked inside returned to the circular economy.
These experiences ignited a passion and kickstarted an investigation into what was really happening with the world’s stockpile of e-waste.
What he found was shocking and so he gathered a small band of curious and dedicated individuals, and started to think about, what if we could do better? What would it take? What would it look like? How could we do it? And ultimately, why wouldn’t we? We needed to think outside the circle.
Advocating for change
Sircel is a champion of change. Working with leading industry associations such as Circular Australia and Australian Council of Recycling (https://acor.org.au/) to lend our voice and expertise to accelerate the Government response to e-waste at all levels.
Our advocacy is centred on three major principles:
1Electronic waste (e-waste) should be treated as its own discreet category – no longer rolled up in a broader “waste” discussion. End of life electronics may no longer be valuable as a scrap mobile phone or decommissioned telecommunications exchange, but these devices hold valuable metals and materials that can AND should be returned to the circular economy.
2The Australian Government (and State Governments) need to urgently establish a single, nationally consistent, legislative and policy framework for the treatment of waste, and e-waste in particular. The lack of consistent regulatory frameworks, changes in licencing standards from state to state and inconsistent application of Government grants and programs do not provide a long term, risk-managed environment to provide certainty for the massive investment in plant and technology needed to solve this crisis.
3The Government, industry and other stakeholders must take a holistic, whole-of-sector approach to this challenge – from e-waste’s perspective this includes product stewardship, responsibility for end of life considerations at the product design phase, efficacy of government schemes and legislative frameworks to prevent unintended consequences and rorting by unethical operators, and consistently applied accreditation standards and auditing of same to ensure we are dealing with this waste stream in Australia and not just shipping our problems overseas to create greater environmental damage
Can you make a difference?
Yes. Get informed, ask questions, establish your position and action plan, and analyse those who are supporting you on your path.
Our clients all want to know how our joint actions are keeping e-waste out of landfill and making a real difference. We prove it to them every day, through transparent reporting, close interactions and feedback loops, and regular onsite tours.
To help you assess whether your e-waste recycling partner is doing the right thing to keep harmful waste out of landfill and diverted back to the circular economy, ask these questions.
1Does the recycler have the capacity to reuse and refurbish first (the best form of recycling) before breaking devices down? For us, reuse is our top priority, and that’s why our ITAD department thoroughly assess devices for repurposing before recycling.
2Are the recycler’s methods efficient enough to process the quantity of e-waste received? If they rely on manual dismantling techniques or are small-scale, the answer is likely no.
3Are the recycler’s methods as gentle and environmentally friendly as possible? Ask if they use furnace-based technology or chemical separation, for example.
4Does the recycler complete the whole recycling or re-sale process in Australia? Or do they simply pack material in shipping containers and send overseas? We don’t believe any other country should deal with the 22kgs per capita of e-waste that Australians generate each year, especially when we have the technology right here to manage it.
5Can the recycler recover most of the materials in-house or do they need to rely on other recyclers to recover certain materials? If so, how do they ensure those recyclers are using best practice? Make sure you check their compliance and accreditations [link to internal page].
6Can your recycler genuinely show diversion from landfill and to what percentage?Are their NTCRS claims realistic? These are our KPIs for each client, and they should be yours too.