Friday, January 23, 2009

DTV Transition Day Moved

Citing opposition from Republicans, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee canceled its Wednesday meeting to consider legislation to delay the digital television (DTV) transmission deadline. The bill in question extends the transition date from February 17th to June 12th.

In a brief statement about the vote cancellation, committee chair Henry Waxman (D-California) again stated date-change advocates' position. "The transition to digital television is not going well. There is not enough money for the converter box coupon program and millions of Americans could experience serious problems," said Waxman. "Delay of the deadline is our only hope of lessening the impact on millions of consumers. Without a short, one-time extension, millions of households will lose all television reception."

One of the bill's opponents, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), claims that he would accept a short delay, only if the legislation allowed public safety organizations to access the analog TV spectrum per the original transition date's plans.

According to a recent Digital Tech Consulting report, there are enough DTV converters available for the estimated number of people that need them.

"We believe there is ample supply of nearly nine million boxes in retail warehouses and store shelves ready for an onslaught of last-minute buyers," said Myra Moore, project manager for DTC.

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Source: E-Scrap News, January 23rd, 2009.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

ISRI Acquires Assets of IAER

Jan. 15 -- The Institute of Recycling Industries has acquired the assets of the International Association of Electronics Recyclers.

The merge will unify the electronics recycling industry and strengthen ISRI´s new Electronics Division, said Robin Wiener, ISRI president.

The groups will unite their lobbying efforts in Congress, which will be more effective, she said. Their educational and training programs also will become more robust and valuable.

All IAER members who qualify for ISRI membership will receive it. Those that don´t, such as nonprofit groups, will receive a refund of the remaining portion of their IAER membership. As a welcome gesture, IAER members will join ISRI at their IAER dues levels through the middle of this year.

The IAER Electronics Recycling Summit will be held in conjunction with ISRI´s annual convention, which will be held, April 26-30, in Las Vegas. IAER´s Web site content will be transferred to ISRI´s site.

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Source: Waste and Recycling News, Jan. 15

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Raident Technology Launches a New E-Waste News Blog

Raident Technology, Inc. has officially launched their eWaste News blog at http://raident.blogspot.com. The Raident eWaste blog is updated frequently with the latest industry news regarding current laws, regulations and events.

Fremont, CA, January 11, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Raident Technology has consistently improved their communication with the public as well as their asset recovery and electronic waste solutions. The main goal for the blog is “to keep the public as well as our OEM clients informed about the changes around the world regarding laws and news on electronic waste” stated Aisha Wahab, an Account Manager at Raident. Raident “prides itself on being a step ahead and well prepared for any changes in our industry” Miss Wahab added.

Overall, this is a blog that allows people to read the latest news, leave comments and share the news they read through e-mail. Natalia Kleschevnikova stated that Raident “is excited about sharing their knowledge with the world and the blog allows us to do just that. So come and follow our blog.”

About Raident Technology, Inc.
From its corporate headquarters in Silicon Valley, Raident Technology was founded to deliver value-added asset management, asset recovery and electronic eWaste recycling solutions. Raident is on a fast-track growth strategy to expand its processing capacity, by both organic means and acquisitions, and to establish a leading position in the global market. It is a member of key industry groups and committed to protecting the environment while providing high-quality, customer specific services. In a fragmented market crowded with small, unsophisticated operations, Raident remains a trusted and respected resource.

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Contact Information
Raident Technology, Inc.
Natalia Kleschevnikova
(510) 656-3622 x 109
natalia@raident.com
www.raident.com
www.raident.blogspot.com

Friday, January 9, 2009

Metal Market Continues to Weaken

E-scrap processors can expect continued weakness in demand and pricing for metals and metal-containing scrap recovered from obsolete electronics.

Copper is a perfect example. Buyers of copper cathode saw prices fall from a high of nearly $4 per pound last spring to about $1.50 per pound by the end of 2008. Prices in December 2008, alone, dropped 20 percent to the lowest level in more than four years. Market players cite weak global demand and high inventories as the causes of the price swoon.
The picture is expected to remain ugly for the coming months. For instance, prices of futures contracts on the London Metal Exchange show no improvement over today's price.

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Source: E-Scrap News, Jan. 9, 2009

Monday, January 5, 2009

EU's Proposed WEEE Revisions Signal eWaste Crackdown


Potential toughening of EU eWaste could impose minimum recycling targets on IT manufacturers and force them to crank up take back schemes.

The European Commission today issued proposed revisions to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which would significantly toughen the much criticized legislation by imposing recycling targets on IT and electrical equipment manufacturers and making them financially responsible for household collection of eWaste.

The regulations came into force in the UK in January 2007 after the EU directive was passed in 2003 with the intention of imposing the polluter pays principle on manufacturers by making them financially responsible for the recycling and safe disposal of IT and electrical equipment.

However, the legislation has been widely criticized by green groups as being largely unworkable, with manufacturers accused of failing to adequately publicize eWaste take back schemes, waste management criticized for illegally exporting old computers to scrap yards in the developing world and regulators slammed for failing to enforce the legislation.

The European Commission has now also expressed concern that the legislation is not proving effective and claims that only around a third of electrical waste is being treated in accordance with the law.

The EU estimates that 54 per cent of eWaste produced across the Union is shipped to sub-standard treatment facilities inside or outside the EU, while the remaining 13 per cent goes to landfill. It also claims that the illegal shipping of eWaste for handling in non-EU countries remains widespread.

The proposed strengthening of the directive would give Member States greater powers of inspection and monitoring, and tighten registration and reporting requirements for producers as well as "encouraging" them to be financially responsible – most likely through a more stringent regime of fines for those firms that creach the new rules.

A recycling target has also been proposed that would require manufacturers to collect annually 65 per cent of the average weight of products placed on the market in the two preceding years.

The proposals have attracted criticism from EICTA, the lobby group representing the information and communications technology and consumer electronics industries in the European Union, which claims that producers would not be able to meet the targets.

"The latest proposal defines a set of unrealistic and unreachable targets because it does not take into account the fact that a market for recyclables already exists," said Mark MacGann, Director General of EICTA. "The Commission has seriously underestimated the volume of electrical and electronic waste collected and recycled by non-producer organizations."

According to research published recently by a Dutch group of eWaste recycling firms, current waste collection targets are being exceeded in most EU countries. It claims that while 80 per cent of the electrical and electronic waste has been effectively collected and recycled, the majority of the collected waste has been recycled outside of the official producer-funded WEEE systems.

"There are large flows of electronic waste outside of the producer-funded WEEE system because of simple economic laws of supply and demand," said MacGann. "There is value in recyclable material. When recycled materials prices are competitive, it will be virtually impossible for producers to get hold of enough waste to meet the proposed collection targets."

However, the EU maintains that it is this waste outside the regulated WEEE system that is most likely to end up in landfill sites or being handled in scrap yards in Asia and Africa where poor safety and environmental standards frequently result in damage to workers health and local water supplies.

The proposals were welcomed by green groups such as IT re-use charity Computer Aid International, which has been campaigning for a crackdown on exports of broken IT and electrical equipment to developing economies.

However, Louise Richards, chief executive at Computer Aid International, said that the proposed changes did not go far enough, arguing that more should be done to promote IT re-use over and above recycling.

"The renewed emphasis on recycling targets is a reassuring move, however we question why there is still no specific target in place for re-use alone," she said. "It is our hope that in the future the directive will ensure that 100% of functioning whole appliances are re-used, particularly in the case of PCs and laptops. It's essential that we maximize the energy already expended during the production process, which takes up 75 per cent of a PC’s lifecycle energy before the equipment is even turned on for the first time."

She also argued that the success of any attempt to crack down on illegal waste export would rest on individual member states willingness to properly police the legislation.

"Whilst the proposed changes to the WEEE directive seek to better control equipment leaving the EU, individual governments could still fail to equip their Environment Agencies and equivalents with the appropriate resources to do so effectively," she warned, adding that the charity was currently running a petition on the No 10 website calling for an increase in resources to support the Environment Agency's attempts to police the legislation.

The proposed revisions to the WEEE directive are now open for consultation ahead of an eventual vote on the changes in the European Parliament.

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Source: BusinessGreen, Dec. 4, 2008 (http://www.vnunet.com/business-green/news/2231983proposed-weee-revisions-squeeze).