NEPSI (National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative) discussions from 2000 through 2004 revealed that knowledge of the distribution of product brands that are sold and received for recycling is important information in developing a system of equitably funding the shared responsibility model for the product stewardship of end-of-life electronics. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection conducted a brand distribution project for electronic products. Funding assistance was provided by 3 electronic equipment manufacturers – HP, Panasonic and Sharp – and Region 4 of the US EPA. Five Florida-based electronics recycling companies collected the data from loads of electronics received for recycling in Florida:

• Creative Recycling Systems (Tampa)
• E-Scrap, Inc. (Hialeah)
• Jack's Recycling (Jacksonville)
• Quicksilver Recycling Services (Tampa)
• Secure Environmental Electronic Recycling [SEER] (Tampa)

Between April 2004 and June 2006, we sorted, by product and brand, more than 100 loads of electronic products collected for recycling in Florida. We also collected data on the year each product was manufactured, if those data were easily identified from product labeling. Weights of the individual products were also recorded when facility operational constraints allowed that. The targeted products were collected from the residential and small business sources that are generally served by county recycling or thrift store donation services.

The following electronic product categories and subcategories were used for this project:

1. TVs
   1. Size
      1. consoles
      2. > 19" tabletops
      3. ≤ 19" tabletops
      4. projection
   2. Display Type
      1. Flat panel
      2. CRT
2. Monitors (excluding dumb terminals)
   1. Flat panel
   2. CRT
3. Computers
   1. CPUs desktop
   2. Laptops/notebooks
4. Computer desktop peripherals
   1. Printers
   2. Scanners
   3. Copiers
   4. Fax machines
   5. Multifunction devices
5. Video peripherals
   1. VCRs
   2. DVD players (including programmable TiVo-type)
6. Telecommunications devices (desk phones, mobile phones, pagers, PDAs, etc.)
7. Audio equipment (stereos, radios, tape players, speakers, etc.)
8. Other (does not fit any other product category, e.g., microwaves, typewriters, computer parts, dumb terminals)

For Categories 1-5, we collected brand, manufacturer (if different than brand) and year of manufacture (if on the product label). For Categories 1-5, we also collected total pounds for subcategories. For Categories 6-8 we collected only total pounds. With these weights, we characterized the percentage split of the sorted escrap stream by product category.

This project also assembled information on the distribution of product brands that were sold during roughly the same time period for which products received for recycling were sorted. The focus was on product categories and subcategories 1-4 that were sold to home and small business users. A comparison of these two data sets (products sold; products received for recycling) proved to be a useful exercise for the product stewardship system discussion.

A complete project report containing aggregated data and a comparison of products sold and products received for recycling is available to the public. Detailed data from this project are available through custom software. Click here to install this software and data on your computer. To see the data, you should create a shortcut on your desktop to c:\esort_data\esort.exe after running the install program and double-click the shortcut. If you need help installing or using this software, contact Mr. Jack Griffith 850.245.8748.

For more information, contact Jack Price, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 850.245.8751.