Last week, Cascade tried a new approach to facilitate the exchange of computer recycling pounds to fulfill manufacturer obligations under the new Minnesota e-waste law - eBay. Three auctions were posted to sell about 30,000 pounds of collected and processed Covered Electronics Devices ("CEDs") generated by Minnesota households. The potential buyers of these pounds were manufacturers who are responsible, under the law, for managing and financing the collection and processing of these CEDs.
After one week of open bidding, there were . . . no bids. So, this innovative approach didn't yield a successful on-line transaction, but what did it do?
Here are some basic facts. The auctions were viewed 170 times. Several individuals registered on eBay to "watch" the progress of the auctions. The story was picked up by industry publications and discussed at the E-Scrap conference in Atlanta.
The buzz was more significant. Cascade received substantial interest and feedback in this initiative from Minnesota counties and CED collectors. Manufacturers were "intrigued" by the program and wanted us to keep them informed of the progress.
Most manufacturers, when asked if they would bid, said they would pass. The reasons are mostly logistical. Large multinational companies don't tend to buy things on eBay, nor do they operate in an environment where cash is paid up front for services or decisions are made within a 7 day auction window. They also don't know their obligations under the Minnesota law yet, and are not motivated to start buying recycling pounds to fulfill their obligations until the summer of 2008.
So why did we try to sell some of our processed CED pounds on eBay? We stand by what we said in our announcement from October 25th:
"By taking advantage of existing technology that allows for real-time trading of these processed recycling weights, this system avoids the need for a new government bureaucracy or a non-profit third party organization (TPO) that has emerged in other states legislating manufacturer responsibility for electronics recycling. By treating the recycling weights as a commodity and trading them in real time, both the manufacturers and recyclers can plan for the future and the market can best determine the true value of recycling and collection."
In addition, we posted these recycling pounds in hopes of jump starting efforts to build a dynamic, technology based commodity trading system. We prefer to focus our efforts on responsible processing of e-scrap. We believe manufacturers would rather spend their time making quality products than developing and managing e-scrap collection and processing systems. We feel government is already stretched in resources to adequately manage a financing program for this industry, and should instead focus their efforts on education and enforcement. Since the technology already exists to trade CED recycling pounds/credits as other commodities are traded, why not use that technology? It is not only more efficient, it is the fastest way to determine a fair market value for an effective and sustainable computer recycling program for a state.
It should also be noted that while the weights listed on eBay didn't receive any bids during the listed auction, we were able to sell those weights, and much more, directly to a responsible manufacturer soon after, at a price above the "reserve" set in the auction. So, for us, this experiment was a success. We hope in the future the rest of the industry catches up with us to see this as a viable option for managing the financial obligations of e-scrap legislation.
RICOM’s Computer Buyback and Recycling Program aims to reduce the amount of electronics in landfills by refurbishing for further use or by safely recycling it. RICOM’s recycling and buyback programs offers customers in the United States a simple way to receive cash for their unwanted technology equipment or, if there is no value, recycle it.
We offer practical solutions that make it easy for customers to go green. Our Computer Buyback and Recycling Program is yet another example of RICOM’s commitment to reducing environmental impact by providing a convenient way for customers to responsibly recycle data center equipment. Environmentally, RICOM is committed to offering products and services that are environmentally sound throughout their life cycles, and to conducting our operations in an environmentally responsible way.
Remanufacture and reuse is only one component of the environmental lifecycle. A complete approach to the environment considers all aspects of a product's lifecycle and footprint of a product. Systems that are easier to upgrade using refurbished components extending the end date of their use. RICOM offers refurbished components in new products and packaging as an alternative of cost savings.
Hardware asset recovery has value with used equipment Trade-in/trade-up, donation and off lease programs. With 20 years experience in IT sales, refurbishing and recycling operations, green is good business. Our vast portfolio of blade, virtualized configurations as well as energy star certified products cuts power costs, and consolidates data center real estate. Recycling computers rather than depositing them in landfills or shipping them off for other nations has risk of sensitive data. RICOM’s partnered with company’s assisting in such disk data sanitation services.
RICOM extends Environmental Technology Solution to save customers money. Electronic products make up the fastest growing segment of our waste system. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2007, more than 63 million computers in the United States were traded in for replacements, or simply thrown out. But discarded computers don't just take up space in a landfill. Careless computer disposal spread a toxic cocktail of more than 100 chemicals, leaching lead, cadmium, barium and mercury in the soil. Be responsible, reuse certified refurbished, and recycle your aging data center equipment that is cost effective both business and the environmentally.
Asset Recovery Solutions, contact RICOM http://www.shopricom.com/
Posted by: ricom | June 19, 2009 at 05:02 PM
We believe the best way to manage ewaste is to reuse. We however believe that this idea of recycling credits is not practical. Reuse is the way to go. We are however open for a more elaborate recycling credits idea.
contact us at http://www.theusedcomputers.com/
Posted by: Chris Esikumo | July 11, 2010 at 09:57 AM
Recycling Credit is a good idea, here in Uk Computer recycling is to be perpetuated through recycling centre ddrop off centres within 6 months.
here is a link to one of those computer disposal drop off points http://www.itrecyclinguk.co.uk/Recycling_News/uk-computer-recycling-drop-off-scheme-gets-green-light/
Posted by: Computer Recycling Services | June 27, 2011 at 07:55 PM