Today's Herald
Alberta leads way on e-recycling
Emma Gilchrist, Calgary Herald
Published: Friday, August 15, 2008Pictures of children disassembling computers, toxic smoke rising off piles of circuit boards and impoverished families processing molten lead in the same pots they use for cooking have stirred up some serious questions from astute Green Guide readers.
A National Geographic article headlined High-Tech Trash, which ran earlier this year, gave a graphic account of how recycling companies in the U.S. are shipping e-waste to the developing world, where people scavenge for valuable scraps, often causing environmental damage along the way.
After reading the article, Darcy Bedingfield wrote to me saying he is "ashamed and disgusted by the damage we are causing.
View Larger ImageSometimes electronics are dumped in developing countries, but that's not the case in Alberta.
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"Can you dig a little deeper and find out where our used electronics are really going?" he asked.
Another Green Guide reader, Jerre Paquette, wrote after reading the same article: "I would like to determine . . . whether we really are recycling or simply shipping."
Well, it's not often I get to dish out praise for Alberta or Calgary's recycling system, but I'm thrilled to share the good news on this topic.
Alberta leads North America on electronics recycling. Really.
Four years ago, our province launched the first electronics recycling program in Canada. What's more, Albertans are recycling close to three kilograms of electronics per capita, which is the highest rate on the continent and close to the four-kilogram target set by the European Union.
The province started the recycling program for TVs and computer equipment to keep harmful chemicals out of the landfill. Virtually eliminating the black market for electronics has been a happy side-effect.
In jurisdictions that don't have regulated electronics recycling, such as Ontario, Quebec and much of the U.S., the door is left wide open for private companies to collect e-waste and sell it overseas.
Jim Sellers, the communications manager for the Alberta Recycling Management Authority, says strict safety and environmental standards in Alberta ensure e-waste is dealt with ethically.
As a result, consumers pay a fee -- ranging from $5 for a laptop to $45 for a 46-inch TV -- to cover the costs of the proper recycling of electronics.
Some bargain-basement recyclers in other jurisdictions find it most cost-effective to ship computers and TVs wholesale to developing nations.
"They take what they can and then send it to a place where people are basically paid to scavenge," Sellers says.
But Alberta's system ensures that doesn't happen.
"Processors dismantle the products down to a commodity status: plastic, metal and glass. The dangerous components are removed and processed through approved processors," he says.
Once broken down to commodity status, the materials are sold in the international marketplace.
"Every thing that comes out of this program is a commodity that can be reused," he says.
The only way to be sure your electronics are dealt with responsibly is to drop them off at one of the province's 220 collections sites. (There are 16 in Calgary. Visit albertarecycling.ca to find the one closest to you.)
