Media Backgrounder. What electrical and electronic equipment is included in the program?

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1 Media Backgrounder Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Program The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) program is a waste diversion plan to channel unwanted electronic equipment such as computers and televisions into reuse and recycling programs to keep them out of landfill sites. The WEEE program was developed and is being implemented by Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES), an industry organization established in 2007 by Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO). WDO is the non-crown corporation created under the Waste Diversion Act, 2002 to oversee the development, implementation and operation of programs to increase the diversion of materials designated under the Act including blue box recyclables, municipal hazardous or special waste as well as electrical and electronic equipment waste. In June 2007, the Minister of the Environment directed WDO to develop a WEEE program in phases, to establish an industry funding organization and to submit a Phase 1 WEEE plan by February As requested, OES finalized the program plan, which was approved by the minister in July 2008, to officially launch on April 1, Websites: and Who is Ontario Electronic Stewardship? OES comprises the brand owners, first importers into Ontario and assemblers of the electrical and electronic equipment captured in the program. They are called stewards. What electrical and electronic equipment is included in the program? The program is being implemented in phases. The first phase includes: Computers - desktop and laptop Computer peripherals such as mice, keyboards, disk drives Monitors Printer devices (desktop) Fax machines Televisions Additional materials such as cell phones, cameras and audiovisual equipment will be included in future phases of the program. (Link to information about additional program phases:

2 What happens now with unwanted WEEE? More than 91,000 tonnes of Phase 1 electrical and electronic equipment are sold each year in Ontario. While there are some existing reuse and recycling programs, most electronic waste ends up in the garbage or shipped to countries where the material might be processed with less regard for human health or the environment. In fact, estimates suggest that by year five of the WEEE program, the total amount of discarded material will rise to 123,000 tonnes, or about 30% more waste electronics that will have to be managed. What does 91,000 tonnes of e-waste look like? With the diversity of products and types of material that constitute ewaste, it can be difficult to envisage the scale of Ontario s annual waste electronics output. To comprehend how much Phase 1 WEEE is currently generated in Ontario each year, imagine a huge parking lot full of about 34,000 Hummer motor vehicles. What are the objectives of the WEEE program? The WEEE program maps out a plan to divert an additional 17,000 tonnes of WEEE in the first year rising to 75,000 tonnes annually (60 per cent of available material) in year five. Over the first five years, the target is to divert an additional 161,000 tonnes of WEEE. Currently about 25,000 tonnes of WEEE are collected annually through various public and private sector systems. The overall priority of the program is to promote reuse and recycling of unwanted electronics and to encourage consumers and industrial, commercial and industrial users to take electronics to OES certified collection sites. Consumers may choose to direct electronic equipment that is still working and usable to reuse programs. Electronics that are at the end of their useful life will be directed to end-of-life (EOL) processing facilities where many of the components, e.g., steel, glass, copper, aluminum, plastics and precious metals, can be recovered and reused. How does the WEEE program work? Many different partners are involved in making the program work. The affected companies, i.e., the brand owners, first importers into Ontario and the companies that assemble electronic equipment want to ensure their products are handled properly from the beginning to the end of their life cycles. Beginning April 1, 2009 these companies will report to OES and pay fees on the amount and type of electrical and electronic products they supply into the Ontario marketplace. OES is responsible for ensuring affected industries participate in the program as well as overseeing and paying 100 per cent of the costs associated with the collection, transportation, recycling, and processing of the materials.

3 The money raised from industry will be used to: Increase the number of locations and opportunities for consumers to drop off their unwanted electrical and electronic equipment for reuse or recycling Manage the materials collected in an environmentally-responsible manner and reduce the amount going to landfill or going to offshore to countries where health and environmental standards are lower than in Ontario Support research and development activities Implement consumer information and education programs Collection Channels The WEEE program calls for a province-wide network of certified collection sites where consumers can take unwanted waste electronics. These include municipalities and private and non-profit organizations (e.g., retailers, existing second-hand material collection organizations, waste management and recycling companies). Here is a summary. Ontario Municipalities OES has certified17 Ontario municipalities serving nearly 2.5 million households to collect waste electronics through seasonal event days and permanent and seasonal depots. Another two dozen municipalities have applied to become collection locations which will add more than 875,000 households. Together this represents about 66% of the households in Ontario in year one. Many municipalities have collected waste electronics for years. Under the OES program, municipalities will receive an incentive fee of $165/tonne for collection services. Salvation Army Thrift Stores Thirty-seven Salvation Army Thrift Stores in Toronto, the GTA, Southwestern, North Central and Eastern Ontario have joined the OES program. Beginning April 1, they will accept all designated Phase one WEEE. Because OES will pay transportation and recycling costs plus pay an incentive fee of $165/tonne of material for collection services, the Salvation Army will be able to direct more of its revenues to community services such as women s shelters and addiction rehabilitation programs.

4 SEARS Canada On Saturday, April 25, during Earth Week, SEARS Canada begins the first stage of its electronics collection program that by the end of year one will see opportunities for people to take all designated Phase 1 waste electronics to take-back events held in SEARS parking lots on designated days. The first stage of the program kicks off in 14 stores in Eastern Ontario. As well, later in the year, SEARS will pilot test a pick up service for customers who get a SEARS product delivered to their homes. The SEARS home delivery team will pick up at no charge designated electronic equipment and return it to WEEE collection sites. The pilot test area will be announced at a later date. Sears Canada is a multi-channel retailer with a network of 198 corporate stores, 190 dealer stores, 43 home improvement showrooms, over 1,850 catalogue merchandise pick-up locations, 106 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and installation network. The Company also publishes Canada s most extensive general merchandise catalogue and offers shopping online at Location of participating stores as of April 25th: Belleville Brockville Cornwall Kingston - Full-line Kingston - Home Oshawa Oshawa - Home (A&M) Ottawa - Carlingwood Mall) Ottawa - (St. Laurent) Ottawa East - Home Ottawa-Home (Pinecrest) Peterborough Pickering Whitby - Home STAPLES Canada Beginning May 1, 2009, 17 STAPLES Canada stores in Southwestern Ontario will be drop-off points for unwanted electronic devices. This pilot program will run for 90 days. STAPLES Canada will assess the pilot and determine the possibility of program expansion. Locations with participating Staples stores: London Windsor Sarnia Brantford Owen Sound Chatham Woodstock Tillsonburg Stratford Strathroy Leamington Simcoe

5 Other Participant: Renewed Computer Technology (RCT) which operates Computers for Schools in Ontario will link with the WEEE program to promote reuse. RCT will sponsor a collection event in London, Ontario on Earth Day, April 22, to collect computers for reuse. OES is certifying additional collection locations on an ongoing basis. How do consumers find collection sites for waste electrical and electronic equipment? Consumers can find the closest location to take unwanted WEEE, including collection sites operated by municipalities and private sector and community service organizations by logging on to (and choosing electronics ). On this site named Do What You Can to recognize that we can all do more to help improve the environment through the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) people can search by municipality, by postal code and by product. The Do What You Can website also has a section that provides collection locations for household hazardous or special waste such as paint, oil filters, automotive antifreeze, nonrechargeable batteries and empty propane cylinders. Other WEEE partners: transporters and processors More than 80 transporters have registered to move collected WEEE from various collection points across the province to regional consolidation centres and from there on to approved processors. These approved processors are required to meet stringent standards and are prohibited from shipping materials to jurisdictions where such standards are not in place.

6 More about the 3Rs The WEEE program promotes the reuse of electronics and consumers are encouraged to pass along electronics that still work to friends, family members and neighbours. Some charities are also happy to accept working equipment. All data should be backed up and drives wiped clean before passing on computer equipment. This ensures essential protection against data and even, identity theft. While there are organizations that will do this for you for a fee, there is information available online to teach you how. A small sample of useful websites includes: drive.mspx (a free download eraser tool recommended by PC Magazine) Just because the equipment is no longer usable does not mean it is not useful as many of the components such as steel, glass, copper, aluminum, plastics and precious metals can all be recovered and reused. For more information: Visit Or, contact Ontario Electronic Stewardship customer service at customerservice@ontarioelectronicstewardship.ca or by phone at To find out about WEEE collection sites visit: and choose electronics. MEDIA CONTACT Barbara McConnell, Communications Phone: ; off-hours bmcconnell@csr.org