Flat screen TVs and sleek computer screens have all but replaced the boob tube and boxy computer monitors. And with those disappearing vestiges of 20th century technology, a market for their recycled components also has evaporated.
There’s little option left but the landfill, even for Vermont’s flagship electronics recycling program.
Casella Waste Services took over administration of the state’s free “e-cycles” collection last fall. Since mid-October, the publicly traded company, based in Vermont, has collected at least 629,255 pounds of electronic waste from dozens of free collection sites around the state. Well over half the material by weight is old televisions and computer monitors — the heaviest among them generally older models.
Casella, in turn, has subcontracted an international firm called Kuusokoski Recycling to dispense of the material for them. But the cathode ray tubes (CRTs) that make those screens glow are no longer in demand on the recycling market: Only one company, in India, is still making new CRTs out of the old.
The state’s previous contractor, Good Point Recycling of Middlebury, exported CRT glass through both domestic and international channels, all approved by the Agency of Natural Resources. Good Point lost the bid for the state’s primary contract, and now operates a smaller, independent program on behalf of several electronics manufacturers.
Kuusokoski has come up with its own method of disposal — one that’s making waves in e-waste and environmental circles.
After being consolidated at facilities in either Williston or Berlin, Vermonters’ electronic waste is transported to Philadelphia for further sorting. The cathode ray tubes are then shipped to Illinois, where highly toxic phosphor powder is removed.
The leaded glass that remains is crushed into two-inch chunks, which are stabilized with a proprietary chemical blend before the glass is tested for safety and moved to a landfill in Peoria for use as an “alternative daily cover.”
This use of treated CRT glass is a controversial innovation in landfill management, adding a new charge to existing options such as treated sewage sludge, contaminated soil and crushed construction debris.
It’s not ideal, says Cathy Jamieson, Solid Waste Program manager for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. The office doesn’t consider the landfill use “recycling,” per se. But, she says, treating and landfilling the CRT glass beats the limited alternatives.
“Speculative accumulation,” for example, is a federally banned practice otherwise known as stockpiling the hazardous tubes until a lucrative recycling technology comes around — if it ever does.
It’s also better than forcing a contractor into the sometimes shadowy export market for toxic waste, Jamieson said. Countless congressional investigations and significant grassroots efforts have stemmed the dumping of toxic materials in developing nations. But plenty of unethical outfits are thought to remain in countries ill-equipped to handle or regulate the material effectively.
So, Kuusokoski’s use of CRT glass can’t be called “recycling,” Jamieson said. But because few outlets for recycling the material exist, it will have to do.
And it will all be OK if Kuusokoski maintains its environmental certification with e-Stewards, one of two certifying bodies whose stamp of approval the state requires of e-cycle contractors.
R2 Solutions, the other certifying body that Kuusokoski had previously intended to engage, just banned the landfill practice on March 26.
The nonprofit’s board unanimously concluded that CRTs use as an alternative daily cover “does not constitute a form of reuse or recycling under the Standard (but rather a form of land disposal),” according to a press release.
“Kuusakoski Recycling (Kuusakoski) and Peoria Disposal Company (PDC) respectfully disagree with the R2 Technical Advisory Committee and the R2 Board of Directors regarding their recent announcement clarifying their CRT glass rules,” said Anssi Takala. He’s a vice president with Kuusakoski, who responded to questions by email Monday afternoon.
Takala said an independent study conducted by Shaw Environmental Inc., a CB&I company, shows the alternative daily cover is a viable recycling option for CRT glass.
Even without e-Stewards or R2 certification, the Peoria landfill and Kuusokoski’s use of CRT glass would still be permitted by the Illinois EPA. It’s Kuusokoski’s contract with Casella that’s on the line.
As the state’s primary contractor for its electronics recycling program, Casella is responsible for ensuring that its recycling subcontractors meet state standards and maintain at least one environmental certification.
So far, Kuusokoski does.
Jim Puckett is executive director of the Basel Action Network, which runs e-Stewards. He emphasized that, while his program does allow Kuusokoski’s landfill use of CRT glass, it’s only acceptable as a last resort.
He said that for the company’s pending recertification audit, it will have to prove two things: The treated glass meets EPA standards for lead leachate, and it’s exhausted other domestic alternatives, such as smelting, for disposing of the CRT material.
Puckett said e-Stewards does not allow export under any circumstances, and e-Stewards will be tightening the loop on the “last resort” condition for landfill applications.
“We’re not being easy on Kuusokoski,” Puckett said. “We’ll come back to them and say, ‘How was this a last resort?'”
He added that e-Stewards certification requires all of a company’s operations to meet standards — not just one facility.
“It’s not for sure that Kuusokoski is going to get certified by e-Stewards at their Peoria site,” Puckett said. “So if they’re having trouble with one facility, they’re going to have to get it fixed.”
Casella vice president Joe Fusco demurred when asked if the company had a “Plan B” in case Kuusokoski loses its e-Stewards certification — which would disqualify it as a subcontractor for the state’s e-cycles program. But, he said, if one subcontractor doesn’t make the grade, Casella will find another who does.
“Our policy will always be to work with people who can meet the expectations of the state of Vermont,” Fusco said. “That’s Plan A and Plan B.”
