Electronic waste comprises approximately 1 percent of the country's total waste stream, and that percentage is growing each year. Nationwide, as many as 500 million computers will become obsolete by 2007, according to the National Recycling Coalition.
The health care industry has more than its fair share of electronic devices that are approaching the end of their useful lives and are destined for the waste stream, including monitors, central processing units, televisions, video cassette recorders and diagnostic electronics. However, many hospitals have not considered the environmental impact of all this electronic waste let alone come to terms with how they will dispose of their electronic trash.
Tossing discarded electronic equipment into a landfill is not the answer because most electronics contain a wide assortment of hazardous component materials. Printed circuit boards are composed primarily of plastic and copper, and most have small amounts of chromium, lead solder, nickel and zinc. The batteries that power computers often have mercury, lead and cadmium. Each cathode ray tube contains an average of 4 pounds of lead. A typical personal desktop computer is 23 percent plastic and 20 percent iron by weight and has minute percentages of such elements as beryllium (0.0157 percent) and arsenic (0.0013 percent), a doping agent in transistors.
Prudent management
Most small health care facilities can avoid generating hazardous waste by prudently managing their electronic and battery waste streams. Hospitals can minimize their overall quantities of hazardous waste by careful life-cycle planning to reduce the use of hazardous e-waste materials. They also can accrue significant financial benefits by proper electronics and battery recycling. Not only can an institution avoid the costs of electronic waste disposal, it also will spend less time and money dealing with extensive hazardous waste regulatory requirements for small or large generators.
To properly dispose of a PC, a health care organization may spend up to $300 in removal, transportation, auditing, data erasure and administrative costs.
However, if a health care organization uses an e-waste recycler it can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by repairing, updating and redeploying outdated computers instead of buying new ones.
The management of the electronic waste stream succeeds best with the right combination of support from top management and cooperation by individual departments. Having a person take responsibility for environmental compliance and spearhead coordinated recycling efforts is a real plus. Invariably, those facilities that effectively manage e-waste have in-house champions for their environmental programs, along with at least a spoonful of management support.
Centralized product procurement also helps greatly. For example, a hospital system can leverage its collective buying power and negotiate contracts with suppliers that take back batteries, computers and many other products at the ends of their lives. Health systems that are environmentally conscious help send a message to group purchasing organizations (GPOs) about the importance of providing alternative products and services that are environmentally friendly.
GPOs, in turn, will be encouraged to give preference to manufacturers of electronic products that facilitate recycling, contain less-hazardous components or offer upgrades.
Another critical factor in the success of any recycling program, including e-waste and battery recycling, is having the space for storing and staging the recycling process. Even when space is at a premium, the storage and staging needs of a recycling program should be given high priority by a facility's space planning committee.
A few other tips
Here are a few other tips for managing e-waste:
- Plan ahead and buy electronics that have take-back options. When purchasing new computers, consider negotiating leasing or purchasing agreements that require the manufacturer, distributor or retailer to take back the product at the end of the lease or the product's useful life. This type of arrangement also is being done with rechargeable batteries, televisions, etc. Also consider purchasing equipment with recycled/remanufactured components or those made with less-hazardous components.
Most major computer manufacturers have electronic take-back or recycling programs.
Computer manufacturers also have become partners with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the new "Plug-in to Recycling Campaign," which was announced at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The goals of the campaign are to increase the national recycling rate from 30 percent to 35 percent and to cut the generation of 30 harmful chemicals by 2005. Dell, Sony, Panasonic and AT&T Wireless are among the early supporters of the EPA's recycling drive, and selected Best Buy stores will create drop-off sites for some electronics.
- Auction or sell used equipment. The Internet is an excellent tool for disposing of used equipment. Converge (www.converge.com) is one of several Web sites that can help you find buyers.
- Donate electronic equipment to charity. Much of health care's biomedical equipment can find a useful second life in some other medical setting. There is also a growing list of charities, such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army, that handle donated computer equipment. Another place to donate used computer equipment in good condition is to local schools and religious charities. But, unless the organization has a specific use for older computers, it is suggested that you donate only Pentium or higher performing computers.
Beware, though: When selling or donating electronic equipment, there is still the potential for improper disposal of the item at the end of its life, particularly if it is donated to Third World countries, which have few resources for safely disposing of or recycling these products. Many European nations have banned the export of hazardous waste to developing countries where little or no environmental protection exists.
- Contact TV repair shops to see if they will accept your old televisions or computer monitors. Hospitals that lease televisions can be thankful they do not have to deal with the final disposition of the sets when they are ready to be replaced.
The hospitals that purchase their own television sets do not enjoy this advantage and must plan ahead for the day when they must replace all or large portions of their television inventory. It is generally more cost effective to replace television sets en masse than to wait until they slowly die one at a time. Sets must be in working condition to be sold or donated.
Televisions that are no longer in working condition, if trashed, must be considered hazardous waste and disposed of by means of a licensed hazardous waste hauler. However, if universal waste regulations are applicable in your state, televisions that are sent for recycling are required to meet less stringent shipping and handling requirements. This same scenario applies to computer CRTs as well.
- Participate in a local community electronics recycling program. Contact your city or county government to learn what electronics recycling programs are available or when recycling events may be scheduled for your area.
- Send your electronics to an electronics recycling company. There are hundreds of electronics recycling companies nationwide, and the number of these companies continues to grow.
Other listings are available on the Web, and you can visit the Consumer Education Initiative Web site (www.eiae.org) [or the Call2Recycle Web site (www.call2recycle.org)] to view recycling programs available in individual states nationwide.
Pier-George Zanoni, P.E., CSP, CIH, is an independent health care engineering and environmental safety consultant based in St. Johns, Mich. He can be reached via e-mail at pzanon@michigan.gov.
This article first appeared in the August 2005 issue of HFM.
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