News & Events

GlobalPSC News – February 2013

A recent study has estimated that 42,000 direct and indirect jobs could be created with increased electronics recycling in the US, in addition to generating an extra US$1 billion payroll.

The Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER) contracted DSM Environmental Services, Inc. (DSM) to estimate the number of jobs associated with e-waste recycling in the US, and to project how many jobs might be created with increased domestic e-waste recycling.

The report highlights the uncertainties around just how much of the electronics scrap collected in the US is actually processed domestically as opposed to being exported for processing. Despite the uncertainties, DSM found the processing e-waste in the US instead of exporting it to developing countries would create 21,000 full-time equivalent recycling jobs with a corresponding payroll of US$772 million, with the potential to create another 21,000 indirect jobs and their associated economic activity.

North American battery collections increased to a record 10 million pounds (4.7 million kilograms) in 2012, up 16 percent from 2011 levels, according to Call2Recycle, a product stewardship organization managing the only no-cost collection program for batteries and mobile / cell phones in North America.

Call2Recycle attributes its success to especially strong collections in California and Canada, which collected over one million pounds each. California became the first state in the program’s history to achieve this milestone. The 11 percent statewide growth for California came from the municipal and manufacturing sectors, which increased by 23 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Battery collections grew by 56 percent in Canada for 2012. The increase can be accredited in part to its program expansion in Quebec, where Call2Recycle was selected by RECYC-QUÉBEC to serve as the official battery recycling program for the province. As of July 2012, Call2Recycle began accepting single-use household batteries for recycling in support of the provincial extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulation. As a result, 2012 collections in Quebec rose by 357 percent over 2011.

“Our 2012 performance is vitally linked to the support of our program participants, consumers, and key constituents,” said Carl Smith, CEO and president of Call2Recycle. “Without their environmental commitment, we would not be able to continue successfully collecting, transporting and recycling the millions of pounds of batteries across the US and Canada.”

Call2Recycle offers convenient battery collection sites through a network of over 30,000 retailers, municipalities, businesses and public agencies throughout the US and Canada and is a Corporate Member of the Global Product Stewardship Council. The GlobalPSC appreciates the long-term support of Call2Recycle and congratulates them on their continued success.

2012 Chemical Regulatory Review and Predictions for 2013 – China, Japan, Korea and Other Countries

New GlobalPSC Members and Member Profiles

Stewardship Italy

Panasonic Australia

AgStewardship Australia

Events Update

The Global Product Stewardship Council is presenting at or attending the following events:

• Stewardship 2013, 18-23 May in Montreal, Canada
• RCBC Zero Waste Conference, 22-24 May in Whistler, Canada
• Conference on Canadian Stewardship, 16-18 September in Toronto, Canada
• WasteMINZ Conference, 21-24 October in Rotorua, New Zealand
• Electronics Recycling Asia, 13–15 November in Singapore

At each of these events, we will be promoting the involvement of GlobalPSC members and our activities. Other events are expected to be added in the near future, so watch this space.

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