Executive Summary

The Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication (Telecom) Waste in Canada report was commissioned by Environment Canada to develop baseline estimates of the amount of IT and telecom equipment waste that is currently being generated in Canada. The study is also designed to provide a broad overview of how such products are handled and to estimate the amounts of these products and materials that will enter the waste stream in the next few years. These tasks were accomplished through the development of a Waste Flow Tool that was modified slightly for each of the main streams of IT and telecom waste that are addressed in this report.

Information Technology and telecommunication equipment waste is receiving increased attention for the following reasons:

• Rapid advances in technology result in IT and telecom equipment becoming obsolete at an increasingly rapid pace. This is resulting in an increase in the rate and quantity of IT and telecom equipment entering the waste stream;
• A piece of IT or telecom equipment was, or is typically of high value, both in terms of its component parts and the equipment itself;
• IT and telecom equipment commonly contains toxic materials, which are hazardous if not managed properly.

The specific waste streams addressed in the study include:

• personal computers,
• monitors,
• laptop computers,
• peripherals (e.g., printers, scanners),
• telephones,
• mobile telephones and
• facsimile machines

The study did not include mainframe computers and other large equipment, such as telecom switching stations.

The report includes a summary of the infrastructure that currently exists in Canada for handling IT and telecom equipment waste. Finally, the report also highlights experience in other jurisdictions, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, to assess how this material is addressed in other countries. Recommendations on additional areas of research are included in the last section of the report.

Separate waste flow tools were developed for four different types of IT waste (personal computers, monitors, laptop computers and peripherals) and three types of telecom waste (telephones, mobile telephones and facsimile machines). The waste flow tool for each type of equipment incorporates annual sales of the component in the Canadian market, assumptions on what percentage of the equipment is stored, reused, recycled or disposed at the end of its first useful life in Canada, and the weight of the component, in order to estimate the flow of that equipment type over a 13-year period (1992 to 2005).

Information Technology Wastes

Based on the Waste Flow Tool, it is estimated that in 1999, approximately 33,972 tonnes of IT equipment waste (including PCs monitors, laptops and peripherals, but excluding mainframes and other large equipment) was disposed, 15,592 tonnes was recycled, 24,507 tonnes was sent for reuse and 6,128 was put into storage. Some pieces of IT equipment which had been stored or reused in previous years entered the waste stream in 1999. Of the IT waste disposed, PCs and servers accounted for an estimated 10,833 tonnes, monitors accounted for an estimated 10,688 tonnes, peripherals (scanners, printers, etc) accounted for about 11,474 tonnes and laptops accounted for about 977 tonnes.

The Waste Flow Tools predict that approximately 67,324 tonnes of IT equipment waste (including PCs monitors, laptops and peripherals, but excluding mainframes and other large equipment) will be disposed in 2005, 47,791 tonnes will be reused, 11,948 tonnes will be stored and 43,428 tonnes will be recycled. Of the total IT waste that will be disposed, PCs and servers will account for an estimated 23,349 tonnes, monitors will account for an estimated 24,472 tonnes, peripherals (scanners, printers, etc) will account for about 17,396 tonnes and laptops will account for about 2,107 tonnes.

Many of the materials contained in IT equipment can be potentially hazardous if improperly managed. For example, printed circuit boards contain heavy metals such as antimony, silver, chromium, zinc, lead, tin and copper. The lead oxide used in the cathode ray tubes (CRT) of computer monitors is of particular concern because it is in a soluble form. It is estimated that 1,356 tonnes of lead was contained in the PCs and monitors disposed in 1999 in Canada. This equipment also contained approximately 2.0 tonnes of cadmium and 0.5 tonnes of mercury. Based on the prediction that 47,821 tonnes of PCs and monitors will be disposed in 2005 and assuming that the average composition of this equipment will not change significantly by that year, the weight of lead, cadmium and mercury that will be disposed with this stream in 2005 will increase to 3,012 tonnes, 4.5 tonnes and 1.1 tonnes respectively.

Information Technology Waste Reuse and Recycling

There are a number of organizations, both for-profit companies and non-profit agencies, across Canada that are involved in IT equipment reuse. These organizations typically receive used IT equipment (large amounts from private companies in many cases), which they test to see if it can be easily reused. Repairs and minor modifications are often made to enhance the reuse potential of the equipment (e.g., adding memory to the hard drive, etc.). Where pieces of equipment can not easily be reused, they are dismantled to recover valuable parts, which can be used in the operation or sold to other operations. Non-reusable pieces are sent for recycling. 'Reuse' companies pay for some components delivered, handle some for free, and sometimes charge a fee for handling the equipment, depending on its age. The age of equipment received by these organizations can range from less than one-year to 15-20 years old.

The IT equipment recycling infrastructure in Canada is far from uniform and has limited coverage. It is an immature business, with a relatively small number of companies across the country, but the numbers are growing. It is expected that the demand for this type of service will continue to grow as increasing quantities of IT waste enter the waste stream in future years. The infrastructure for computer recycling is more mature in the US than Canada, with a number of facilities across the country to handle IT waste from large leasing companies such as IBM, etc.

There are already a number of computer recycling companies across Canada. Some recycling companies use manual separation to dismantle and sort the IT equipment into its various components (sometimes into 40 separate categories) in order to get the highest market price for high quality material streams (i.e., wire, circuit boards, power bars, semi-precious and base metals etc.). There are also some automated computer recycling companies that provide secure destruction services for information contained on hard drives, that also recycle component materials. Many companies who recycle IT equipment also handle telecom equipment.

The most challenging component of the IT equipment to recycle is the monitor, which contains a cathode ray tube (CRT). The CRT poses a concern for recycling because soluble lead is incorporated into the frit. Recycling options for this component (if it cannot be reused) are to use the glass as a fluxing agent at a lead smelter, or recycling the component for use by CRT manufacturers.

Telecommunications Wastes

The telecom sector Waste Flow Tools estimate that in 1999, approximately 2,961 tonnes of telephones, facsimile machines and mobile telephones were disposed, 2,256 tonnes were recycled, 2,253 tonnes were reused and 482 tonnes were put into storage in Canada.

In 2005, the Waste Flow Models predict that approximately 4,328 tonnes of telecom equipment waste (including telephones, fax machines and mobile phones) will be disposed in Canada, 3,729 tonnes will be reused, 786 tonnes will be stored and 4,087 tonnes will be recycled.

The infrastructure to handle telephones is relatively mature in Canada, because only a few companies operated the telephone business in the past. As the number of companies providing telecom services increase, more options are available for telephone discards, and recycling and reuse will likely be managed by a larger number of players. Information Technology (IT) and Telecommunication (Telecom) Waste in Canada

Overview of Developments in Europe and the United States

The study provides a brief look at some U.S. programs and an overview of European IT and telecom waste diversion initiatives.

Although still immature, the infrastructure for collecting IT equipment for reuse and recycling is slightly more developed in the U.S. than it is in Canada. This may partly be due to the fact that the U.S. market is larger than the Canadian market.

There has been significant policy development activity in Europe to handle the burgeoning issue of IT and telecom equipment waste, both through the European Union (EU) and through its member states. The EU publicly released the most recent draft of their proposed Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) on June 13, 2000. This directive is intended to harmonize the EC's member states' national measures on WEEE in order to avoid obstacles to trade and to ensure the functioning of the internal market. Five years after the directive is adopted by member states EEE (Electronic and Electrical Equipment) producers, including those outside of Europe, will be legally responsible to pay for reuse and/or recycling of their products and the end of their life.

The WEEE Directive requires an overall recovery rate of 4kg/household/year by January, 2006 for all WEEE¹. An IT and telecom recovery rate of 75% and a reuse and recycling rate of 65% is required by 2006. The recycling and reuse rate prescribed for equipment containing a cathode ray tube is 70%.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The study team recommends that more research be conducted to complete a comprehensive picture of the amount of IT and telecom equipment waste being generated in Canada and the amount of reuse and recycling that is currently occurring. The Waste Flow Tool developed in this study will then provide a more accurate account of the flow of IT and telecom waste in Canada.

¹ WEEE includes large and small household appliances, IT and telecommunication, consumer and lighting equipment, electrical and electronic tools, toys, medical equipment systems monitoring and control instruments and automatic dispensers.

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