ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

Revised 2006

CONTENTS

• INDUSTRY OVERVIEW– General Perspectives– Highlights from the IAER Industry Report

• Industry Survey• Industry Research

• CHALLENGES• OBSERVATIONS

KEY DRIVERS– Increasing volumes

• Expanding pervasiveness of electronics• Shorter lifespan of electronics technologies• Large inventory of obsolete electronics

– Concerns• Landfill• Hazardous materials• Export

– Challenges• Logistics• Costs

ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT - TYPES

• Commercial– computers, office, financial

• Industrial– Telecom, Manufacturing, Medical

• Automotive• Defense & Aerospace• Consumer

– PCs, video, audio, wireless, personal, games

ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT - CONTENT

• REUSABLE:– Units (e.g., PCs, Printers, Monitors)– Components (e.g., Drives, Memory, Processors)

• RECYCLABLE MATERIALS– Metals (precious, base)– Glass (CRT)– Plastics

INDUSTRY SEGMENTSAsset Management

– inventory, disposition planning, resaleBroker

– auction, resale, exportRe-Use: for resale at product level

– Resale/As-Is– Repair/Refurbish /Upgrade/enhance

De-Manufacturing– disassembly & separation of parts and materials

Recovery of Parts & Subassemblies– Test/Classify/Re-use/Sale

Materials Recovery & Recycling (plastics, metals, glass)– separate, prepare for recycling

Materials Processing/Refining (glass, metal, plastics)– shred, grind, pelletize, refine

SOURCES/GENERATORS• Field Returns• Surplus• Trade-Ins• Obsolete/EOL

OEMs USERS LEASCOs

ELECTRONICS RECYCLING INDUSTRY SEGMENTS/OPERATIONS

• Asset Management

• Broker

• Re-Use

• De-Manufacturing

• Parts Recovery

• Materials Recovery

• Materials Processing

TRIAGE

As-IsRepairRefurbish

RESALE

DisassemblyRecover PartsSeparate Materials

RESALE

Shred, Grind, SeparateRefine, Smelt, Melt, Pelletize

Primary Materials Processors

ELECTRONICS RECYCLING INDUSTRY PROCESS MODEL

Scrap Equipment

Metals, Glass, Plastics

Materials

ELECTRONICS RECYCLERS in the USA

020406080

100120140160

NewEngland

Mid-Atlantic

South Mid-West RockyMountain

SouthWest

PacificCoast

(data from IAER database)Number of Recyclers Not including OEMs & NFPs

2003

2005

For more information – including ordering, go to the web page at:http://www.iaer.org/communications/indreport.htm

HIGHLIGHTS from IAER SURVEY (Conducted in 2005)

• Electronics recycling operations in the USA:over 500

• Employees: ~ 19,000• Annual Revenue: ~ $US1.5 billion• Annual Volumes processed:

– ~2.8 billion pounds (1.4M tons)– including ~65 million units of computer equipment– electronics recycling process yielded ~ 1.3 billion pounds

of recyclable materials

WASTE STREAM DATAConsumer Electronics in Municipal Solid Waste - EPA

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

2000 2001 2002 2003

Millions of Tons - Generated

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS

U.S. Sales Trends (Consumer Electronics Association)• Total 2005 sales to increase 11% to $126 Billion• DTV sales increased 78% in 2004 to 7.3M units• Sales of portable MP3 players expected to exceed 10 M

units in 2005• 2005 sales of digital cameras expected to be more than

20 M units• Cell phone sales expected to reach 90 M units in 2005

andGlobal shipments of flat-screen monitors exceeded CRTs

in 2004

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1975 1985 1995 2005

CONSUMER ELECTRONICSAverage # of CE Products Per Household (CEA)Per Household (CEA)

HOUSEHOLD ELECTRONIC WASTEEstimated Replacements over 20 Years

0

5

10

15

20

25Number of Units

Consumers Union

CELL PHONE TRENDS

0

50

100

150

200

250

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

U.S. Subscribers - millions

CTIA Industry Survey

FLORIDA BRANDS STUDY Product Types Collected

TVs

CRTMonitors

Computers

Printers

Others

% by weight

FLORIDA BRANDS STUDY Product Types by Vintage

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

TVs Computers Monitors Printers

Age in Years

Avg.

Oldest

EPA PLUG-IN PILOT PROGRAMSGood-Guys

Copper Wire

Circuit Boards

Other Metals

% by weight

Plastics

Glass

Materials Recycled

CHALLENGESfacing YOUR electronics recycling operations

1. Cost of operations2. Sources of equipment3. Markets for outputs4. Capacity5. Prices for materials & parts6. Other

CHALLENGESfacing the electronics recycling INDUSTRY

1. Legislation/regulations2. Logistics/transportation3. Consumer/residential electronics4. Product take-back programs5. Plastics recycling6. Recycling technology7. Other

INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVESMost Respondents Felt That:• Regulations have helped the industry• R&D is important to electronics recycling• There needs to be more communications• It is important to achieve some type of

certification

IAER

Web Site - http://www.iaer.orgEmail - Info@iaer.org