An informative presentation on plastics in e-waste

1. Plastic in e-waste
And why everybody else who’s making
stuff from plastic should do so too.
How one little company is closing the loop.

2. One year’s worth of plastic…..
300 million tons
produced globally
Less than
10%
recycled

3. 300 million tons of plastic is the equivalent of about 16,665,000,000 cubic yards.
90%, or 14,998,500,000 cubic yards, of that is NOT recycled.
So what does that amount, destined for landfill OR WORSE, look like?
14,998,500,000 cubic yards = 351,525 football fields, filled 20 feet deep
A year’s worth of
plastic not getting
recycled….
…fills 351,525 of these 20 feet deep!!!

5. Ferrous metals: 50%
Plastics: 21%
Other: 16%
Source:United Nations Environmental Programme, Division of Technology, Industry and Economics International
Environmental Technology Centre
Materials in
e-waste by weight
Non-ferrous metals: 13%
The estimated 10% of
the plastic in e-waste
that’s recycled
Plastic in e-waste

6. Plastic in e-waste is especially problematic
• Contains mixed plastics. Of no
value for recycling unless
separated.
• Too much ends up exported to
poor countries. Usually just
burned (spewing toxins) or left
as junk (that won’t go away -
ever)
• If separated for recycling in “low
tech” manner, unsafe techniques
like “burn and sniff” are often
used
• Demand for recycled resin
growing, but not fast enough

7. • About 55,000,000 tons of e-waste generated per year globally
• About 11,550,000 tons of that is plastic (21%)
How much plastic e-waste are we talking
about?
Plastic e-waste generated per year
More than 15,000 football fields,
20 feet deep
ONLY 10% OF THIS IS RECYCLED!!!!!!!!!!

9. When recycled right, plastic in e-waste is no longer a hazard.
IT’S A RESOURCE.
If companies that make things from plastic treat it as
such, and replace virgin plastic resin with recycled
plastic resin (like the “clean tech” resins from MBA
Polymers) they will:
• save over 80% of the energy and between 1 and 3
tons of CO₂ for every ton of virgin plastics replaced
• reduce demand for crude oil which is used in virgin
plastic
• keeps plastic out of landfills
• make beautiful, durable, things that can be
recycled again
• DO THE RIGHT THING

10. Transforming e-waste into
energy-saving lightingHeronLED®
Personal Task Light
• Energy-saving LED desk lamp made in USA
from recycled e-waste and high recycled
content steel
• Body of desk lamp made from 89% post-
consumer Evosource®
ABS plastic
harvested from e-waste (from MBA
Polymers)
• Steel base from made-in-USA steel that is
made from 70% scrap
• Uses only 4 watts for same light as 30 to 40-
watt incandescent
• No mercury
• Bulb lasts 15 years
• Designed to be recycled at end of life

11. Other electronics
makers closing the loop
on recycled plastic
harvested from e-waste
There are more, including
some big names like HP
and Philips, but NOT
ENOUGH!
Nespresso
Electrolux
But what about the rest???

12. Dell and HP recycle their own products to
close the loop on plastics
• Yay!!!!!!!!
• Probably only viable for very
big manufacturers
• And in the meantime, we still
have to deal with what’s
already out there…

14. • If you’re a recycler, become an e-Steward
• If you generate e-waste (and who doesn’t?),
become an e-Stewards enterprise
• Tell Congress you support responsible electronics
recycling regulations
• If you buy things made of plastic, make
suppliers aware that you CARE if they’re using
recycled plastic. If they’re not, ask “what’s your
excuse?”
• REMEMBER Recyclable Recycled!!!!!!
• If your company manufactures things from
plastic that is NOT recycled, find out why not. (In
other words WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE???
• Design with INTENT to reduce waste
We CAN (we MUST) recycle more than 10%
of the plastics in e-waste.
It’s all about supply and demand…
And here’s what you and/or
your organization can do can
do right now….
Increased demand by manufacturers for recycled
plastics will support growth of plastics recycling
industry, and a more robust plastic e-waste recycling
industry will make use of recycled plastics an easy
choice (NO BRAINER) for manufacturers.
INCREASE DEMAND
Increased demand for recycled plastic in the
things we buy (that are made of plastic) will
encourage manufactures to increase efforts to source
recycled plastic resins for their supply chains.
MANAGE SUPPLY
The supply is there (11,550,000 tons per year of it!!)
but there aren’t enough companies working on
exploiting it (which goes back to demand)
E-waste recycling needs to be managed responsibly
and safely
Better take-back programs would encourage more
local plastic e-waste recycling, creating green jobs and
bolstering local supply of recycled resins

16. Questions?
nancy@lfplighting.com

17. The
Circular Economy
in the
Asia Pacific Region
www.circularecconomyasia.org