LEGAL

MANDATES FOR

GREEN

BY

RAHUL SINHA

Resources conservation and recovery act (RCRA)

• Enacted by the federal government in 1976.

• Ban on dumping hazardous waste into landfills.

• Exemptions are made on following circumstances:

1. CRT monitors that are resold or donated for continued use are not considered hazardous waste.

2. To encourage recycling, the EPA (US environmental protection agency) does not consider unbroken CRTs to be hazardous waste.

3. To encourage recycling CRT are not regulated as hazardous if

The container holding the broken CRTs is clearly labelled that it contains broken CRTs.

4. The only time CRTs and other electronics are considered hazardous is when more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) per month is disposed of at any single facility.

COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE COMPENSATION AND LIABILITY ACT (CERCLA)

• Also known as superfund laws.

• Mandates that an organization that generates hazardous waste is liable for the proper disposal of the waste.

• If any customer’s e-waste is found disposed improperly then the original organisation will be liable for the entire cost of any cleanup required.

HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPAA)

• No data should be left on any

computers or other electronic devices at the time of disposal.

• Healthcare provider will be responsible if any personal protected healthcare information falls into the wrong hands.

SARBANES-OXLEY ACT (SARBOX OR SOX)

• Organizations should secure all financial

information and systems.

• The organization that collected financial information will be responsible if any personal financial information falls into the wrong hands.

GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT (GLBA)

• Makes financial institutions responsible for the security of their customers’ information.

• Section 501 of the Act requires financial institutions to establish standards to protect customer records and information.

CALIFORNIA ELECTRONIC WASTE RECYCLING ACT

• Enacted in 2003

• The act requires that an e-waste fee to be collected at the time, the product is sold for safe recycling.

• For ex- CED’s having diagonal length more than 4 inches are charged as follows:

1. Screens between 4 inches and 15 inches incur a $6 fee.

2. Screens larger than 15 inches up to 35 inches incur a $8 fee.

3. Screens 35 inches and larger incur a $10 fee.

VEHICLE TAKE BACK LAWS

• Lawmakers focus more on vehicles because they contain more toxic materials than computer wastes.

• In Japan, the End-of Life Vehicle (ELV) Recycling Law became effective on January 1, 2005.

• This law puts the cost of recycling on the vehicle owner and a fee is collected when the vehicle is sold.

• The collected fees are managed by a not-for-profit organization, which works with manufacturers to ensure that the vehicles are recycled properly.

• In EU the manufacturers bear all or a significant portion of the costs for the disposal of their vehicles at end of life.

• The goal in EU is reuse or recycle 95% of each vehicle, with only 5% going into the landfill by 2015.

ECO-MANAGEMENT AND AUDIT SCHEME (EMAS)

• To receive EMAS registration, an organization must perform the following activities:

1.Conduct an environmental review of all the products, activities, methods, procedures, and so on performed by the organization.

2.Create an environmental management system that ensures that the organization is meeting the objectives defined by its environmental policy.

3. oranganize environmental audit of the management system performed and approved by an accredited EMAS verifier.

4.Provide a statement of the organization’s environmental performance documenting how well it met its environmental objectives.

5.Send all of the above to the EMAS Competent Body for registration and for public review.

RESTRICTION ON HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES (ROHS)

• In July 2006, the EU passed the Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

• Bans the sale of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than specified levels of six hazardous materials:

1. Lead

2. cadmium

3. Mercury

4. hexavalent chromium

5. polybrominated biphenyl (PBB)

6. polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants.

• Many computer manufacturers, such as Dell and IBM, have standardized the design of computers sold worldwide to meet the ROHS directive.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

• Adopted in EU in early 2003.

• The directive makes producers of electrical and electronic equipment responsible for what happens to the equipment they manufacture once the equipment reaches its end of life.

• WEEE establishes minimum requirements for reuse, recycling, and recovery of covered items. There are ten categories of products covered by WEEE:

1. Large household appliances-refrigerators

2. Small household appliances-toasters

3. IT and telecommunications equipment – computers of all sizes

4. Consumer equipment-radio, musical instruments

5. Lighting equipment

6. Electrical and electronic tools-drills, saws

7. leisure and sports equipment-vedio games, sports equipments with electrical and electronic components

8. Medical devices

9. Monitoring and control instruments – thermostats, smoke detectors

10. Automatic dispensers – All devices that automatically deliver all kind of products, such as coffee, soft drinks, money, etc.

• To meet the goal of reducing waste caused by electrical and electronic equipment, the WEEE directive creates the following requirements:

1.Producers of electrical and electronic equipment are required to register in the countries in which they do business.

2.Producers will be responsible for financing the e-waste collection facilities.

3.Private households can return e-waste to collection facilities free of charge. E-waste cannot be thrown in with general waste.

4.Producers will be required to mark their products with the WEEE symbol to let consumers know that the product cannot go in with general waste and should be returned to a WEEE collection facility.

ENERGY USING PRODUCT(EUP) DIRECTIVE - 2007

• Eco-Design requirements:

All the electrical equipments must be labeled with the energy rating of the product.

It sets standards for energy efficient product design.

RECYCLING OF CRT 1. workers manually dismantle

most electronic equipment

and sort out valuable commodities

that are sold to various recyclers.

a) wires and cables are removed

and sent for copper recovery.

b) Hard disks are taken out and transported to DOD for checking. They are used again if are in working condition.

c) The optical devices are taken out from the system and recycled.

d) All the plastic materials are taken out and reused. Generally they are remolded in flower pots and various plastic materials.

2. CRT is ready to be

crushed. The CRT

crusher is completely

self-contained in a

transportable shipping container.

3.Crushed CRT’s are taken through lead smelting process.

4. Other components are sold to various recyclers