The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established regulations surrounding the management of electronics to increase safe recovery and recycling, and to minimize the potential for liability. For those responsible for managing e.Scrap, the following steps are critical in minimizing liability:
Many used CRTs are currently hazardous wastes because they meet the toxicity characteristic under RCRA and are therefore subject to hazardous waste regulations under RCRA Subtitle C unless the CRTs come from a household or conditionally exempt small quantity generator (CESQG).
Consumers: To date, EPA has not regulated any electronic scrap generated at the household level. Households that dispose of CRTs are exempt from hazardous waste management requirements under 40 CFR 261.4(b)(1). A fact sheet for residential consumers can be found at: www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/elec_fs.pdf. With a few exceptions for communities with stricter local rules, homeowners in most of Indiana’s communities can legally put computers, televisions and other electronic scrap in their trash container, and it will be disposed of in a municipal solid waste landfill.
Businesses/Organizations: Businesses may be subject to more stringent requirements for e-scrap management. If the waste comes from business or industry, the waste can be disposed of in a municipal solid waste landfill if the generator is a CESQG. CESQGs are non-residential generators of less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of hazardous waste and less than 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of acutely hazardous waste in a calendar month. They are not subject to most RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste management standards (40 CFR 261.5). However, their materials must be disposed of as solid waste in an approved municipal solid waste landfill. It is important to note that approximately seven to eight monitors surpass the 100 kilogram weight limit for CESQGs, and that the weight limit applies to the accumulated total of all sources of hazardous waste generated. New Federal CRT Rule
If a business user sends a CRT to a reuse organization/reseller for potential reuse, the user is not a RCRA generator and thus not subject to the Subtitle C hazardous waste standards.
An organization, industry or business generating more than 100 kilograms but less than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste per month is a small quantity generator. An organization, industry, or business generating more than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste or more than 1 kilogram of acutely hazardous waste in a month is a large quantity generator. Small and large quantity generators must make a waste determination based on specific knowledge or appropriate testing, and then must properly dispose of the waste according to Subtitle C hazardous waste standards. A fact sheet for businesses is provided on EPA’s WasteWise website at: www.epa.gov/wastewise/pubs/wwupda14.pdf
RCRA and how it currently applies: To determine whether a non-residential facility with used CRTs must comply with RCRA Subtitle C hazardous waste regulations, the generator must first determine if the used CRTs are a solid waste (defined under federal rule as discarded material, which is abandoned, recycled, or considered inherently waste-like). If it is a solid waste, then RCRA applies.
Solid waste determination: Used CRTs sent directly to glass processors or recyclers could under some circumstances be considered spent materials undergoing reclamation, and could therefore be a solid waste. Then, the material must be considered for its potential to be a hazardous waste.
Waste determination: RCRA requires generators to make the waste determination, which requires knowledge of the process or testing of the waste. Each state applies Subtitle C requirements to activities. Below is some guidance as to how RCRA rules apply to various e-scrap handlers, if the solid waste is determined to be hazardous waste:
Circuit boards
EPA previously determined that used, whole circuit boards are considered scrap
metal when sent for reclamation and therefore exempt from RCRA regulation. EPA
also provided an exclusion from regulation for shredded circuit boards being
reclaimed provided the circuit boards meet certain requirements.
State and local government can require more stringent management practices than the federal government requires, but the State of Indiana has consistently followed federal hazardous waste rules and regulations for e-scrap to date.
EPA Region 5 Electronics Webpage: www.epa.gov/region5/solidwaste/electronics.htm
RCRA information on EPA’s Webpage: www.epa.gov/epahome/cfr40.htm
RCRA
Online: www.epa.gov/rcraonline/
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Program of the Indiana
Recycling Coalition |
