Final Report on eCycling - a Mid-Atlantic States Electronics Recycling
Pilot Project sponsored by EPA Region 3
In 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region, and the
environmental agencies of the Mid-Atlantic States (Delaware, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia
(DC) joined forces with electronics manufacturers to find a sustainable
approach to remove end-of-life computers and televisions from the
municipal waste stream. Through the Region 3 "eCycling" Pilot,
government and industry collaborated to demonstrate the feasibility of a
multi-State, public/private, residential electronics collection, reuse,
and recycling program that is based on a model of shared responsibility
among government, industry, and consumers.
This pilot was the first, and remains the only multi-State electronics
collection and recycling effort to receive widespread support from the
major players within the electronics industry, and from state and local
government.
The pilot was very successful in leveraging approximately $1.1 million
in funding primarily from State and local government, and resulted in
the following accomplishments:
58 residential collection events held throughout Region 3;
9 permanent collection programs started;
Over 2,700 tons of end-of-life electronics diverted from the
municipal waste stream and recycled; and
More than 26,000 cathode ray tubes (CRTs) collected and recycled.
Although the collection numbers are impressive, the best results of the
pilot are that it demonstrated that:
Six states can collaborate effectively to provide regulatory
flexibility across a large, multi-jurisdictional area;
Recycling markets will develop to manage the increasing supply of
materials in an environmentally sound manner;
Permanent collections sites have proven to be the most cost effective
method to collect materials;
EPA, State governments, electronic manufacturers/retailers, and
recyclers can develop partnerships to address challenging
environmental issues;
Third party organizations are very important in helping to deploy
funds from the private sector; and
An effort grounded on shared responsibility, and robust outreach to
local government and consumers can work very well.
To learn more, please go to the final eCycling Report on the EPA Region
3 website at http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/eCycling.htm