Chinese e-Waste Collection Scheme

China is implementing an e-Waste collection scheme, similar to that recently implemented in Australia. The "Regulations for the Administration of the Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electric and Electronic Products" officially came into force 1 January 20122, but may take some time to implement, as they are more comprehensive that the Australian scheme, which only covers TVs and computers (Product Stewardship Televisions and Computers). As with the Australian scheme, manufacturers and importers will be levied to pay the cost of collection and disposal of eWaste by local government. It took Australia about four years to get the collection schemes in place. It will be interesting to see how long China takes.

Changes to Australian eWaste Regulations

An Exposure Draft of the Product Stewardship (Televisions and Computers) Amendment Regulation 2012 and associated commentary was released on 26 April 2012. Written submissions to the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities can be made by 17 May 2012.

Background to the Amendment Regulation

The Regulations came into effect on 8 November 2011. In conjunction with the Product Stewardship Act 2011, they provide the basis for national, industry-run arrangements for the collection and recycling of televisions, computers and computer products.

Under the Regulations, companies that imported or manufactured more than a specified number of covered products in the previous financial year are ‘liable parties’. Under section 18 of the Product Stewardship Act 2011, a liable party is obliged to contribute to industry collection and recycling efforts by becoming a member of an ‘approved co-regulatory arrangement’.

Schedule 1 of the Regulations sets out the products covered by the Regulations. For each product there is a product description and a product code. The product descriptions and product codes are drawn from the Combined Australian Customs Tariff Nomenclature and Statistical Classification (commonly known as the Working Tariff) published by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service.

This use of Working Tariff product codes ensures that data from import declarations can be used to assess the number and type of covered products that are imported. This data is used to calculate annual recycling targets for industry-run co-regulatory arrangements. This is administratively efficient because it avoids two sets of reporting, but it does mean that the Regulations need to be updated from time to time to maintain consistency with the Working Tariff.

In conjunction with the Customs and Border Protection Service, the Australian Bureau of Statistics periodically updates the Working Tariff to keep it statistically relevant in the context of the changing composition of Australia’s imports. Due to changes initiated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics the Working Tariff has been amended, effective from 1 January 2012. The changes involve consolidation and removal of product codes that, due to changes in technology, only represent a small number of imports. For example, the categories for cathode ray tube televisions have been consolidated from 20 to 6.

The Amendment Regulation would update the product codes and descriptions to align with the changes to the Working Tariff, and make consequential changes to the Regulations.

One of the consequential changes is to insert ‘conversion factors’ for the new product codes. Conversion factors represent the average weight of a product within a product code, and are used to calculate recycling targets.

Appendix A summarises how conversion factors would change as a result of the Amendment Regulation.

The conversion factors in the Amendment Regulation were developed based on an assessment of products were imported under relevant product codes. The supporting research for this assessment is contained in the report Import Conversion Factors for the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. This report is available at www.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy/publications.

The Amendment Regulation will not affect the rollout of collection and recycling services. The 30% recycling target for 2012-13 remains unchanged, as does the requirement for reasonable access to collection services to be provided in accordance with the Regulations by 31 December 2013.

It is anticipated that the product codes will change again for products imported and manufactured from 1 July 2012. The changes to apply from 1 July 2012 would address industry requests for greater discrimination within product categories to more accurately reflect the weight of those products. This will require a further set of amendments in 2012-13.

Fact sheets and other materials providing background on the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme are available at www.environment.gov.au/settlements/waste/ewaste/ ...

From: Commentary on the Exposure Draft of the Product Stewardship (Televisions and Computers) Amendment Regulation 2012, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, 26 April 2012

Draft Australian e-Waste Standard

The draft Australia/New Zealand standard "Collection, Storage, Transport and Treatment of Used Electrical and Electronic Equipment" (AS/NZS 5377) is available for public comment until 15 May 2012. The document covers computers and telecommunications equipment, as well as other electrical equipment. The contentious issue of estimating the rate of recycling is covered in appendix C of the document. Release of the draft is timely as my ICT Sustainability students at the Australian National University are studying e-Waste this week.

Scope

This Standard sets out principles and minimum requirements for the safe and environmentally sound collection, storage, transport and treatment of used electrical and electronic equipment in order to maximize reuse and material recovery, reduce or eliminate the amount of waste from this equipment going to final disposal operations such as landfill, safeguard worker health, and minimize harm to the environment. This Standard covers electrical and electronic equipment, as outlined in Appendix A, designed for a supply voltage not exceeding 1000 volts for alternating current and 1500 volts for direct current. ...


CONTENTS

SECTION 1 SCOPE, OBJECTIVE APPLICATION AND GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
1.1 SCOPE 5
1.2 OBJECTIVE 5
1.3 APPLICATION 5
1.4 DEFINITIONS 5
1.5 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 7
1.6 ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS 8
1.7 RECEIVING, HANDLING AND STORAGE 9
1.8 RECORDS MANAGEMENT 10
1.9 DATA SECURITY 10
1.10 DISPOSAL TO LANDFILL 10

SECTION 2 REQUIREMENTS FOR COLLECTION AND STORAGE FACILITIES
2.1 GENERAL 11
2.2 LICENSING 11
2.3 ACCESS 11
2.4 SIGNAGE AND INFORMATION 11
2.5 STORAGE AND HANDLING 11
2.6 BROKEN OR DUMPED MATERIAL 12
2.7 STOCKPILING 13

SECTION 3 REUSE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
3.1 GENERAL 14
3.2 PREPARING FOR REUSE 14
3.3 HARVESTING OF REUSABLE EQUIPMENT 14
3.4 HARVESTING REUSABLE ASSEMBLIES, COMPONENTS AND PARTS 15
3.5 LEGAL COMPLIANCE AND EXPORT OF USED EQUIPMENT, ASSEMBLIES, COMPONENTS AND PARTS FOR REUSE 15
3.6 RESIDUAL WASTE FROM REUSE ACTIVITIES 15

SECTION 4 REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSPORTATION
4.1 GENERAL 16
4.2 OBJECTIVES OF TRANSPORTING USED ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT 16
4.3 GENERAL TRANSPORTATION REQUIREMENTS 16
4.4 DOMESTIC TRANSPORTATION 16
4.5 EXPORT REQUIREMENTS 16
4.6 IMPORT REQUIREMENTS 17

SECTION 5 REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TREATMENT
5.1 GENERAL 18
5.2 PROCESSING AND HANDLING 18
5.3 TRACEABILITY 23
5.4 DOWNSTREAM PROCESSORS AND SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT 23
5.5 RECYCLING AND RECOVERY RECORD MANAGEMENT 23

APPENDICES
A ITEMS DESIGNATED AS ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT 24
B MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE PROCESSING, END USE AND METHOD OF DISPOSAL FOR USED ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT 29
C DETERMINATION OF RECYCLING AND RECOVERY RATES 35 ...

From: Collection, Storage, Transport and Treatment of Used Electrical and Electronic Equipment, AS/NZS 5377, draft Australia/New Zealand standard