Corporate Electronic Waste: Scope and Scale, State of the Industry, Evolving Laws, and Available Options

The EcoCom SIG Presents…

Corporate Electronic Waste: Scope and Scale, State of the Industry, Evolving Laws, and Available Options from CommNexus on Vimeo.

An expert panel to present the current state of the electronic waste landscape, legal implications for corporations and consumers, the scale of this massive and growing problem, and possible solutions.Did you know that electronic waste is the fastest growing segment of our collective waste streams both here in the US and worldwide? And did you know that by the year 2020 there will be so many old, unused, or broken electronics that they could fill enough dump trucks to circle the earth twice! Much of that electronic waste is generated by corporations. In the U.S. alone, 3 million tons of e-waste is produced each year, yet only 15% is recycled. Not only are toxic materials being put in the landfill that can ultimately leech into our environment, but there is the loss of valuable materials including rare earth metals, obtained by mining, that are necessary to make new electronics. Despite the fact that many corporations have become more environmentally responsible, the recycle rates of many categories of electronics remain at extremely low levels.

There are now already 25 states with e-waste laws, 17 of which have banned electronic waste from landfills including California. So, what do these laws require and what is the responsible thing for a corporation to do?

The panel will include experts from electronics recyclers (Clover Wireless and eRecyclers.com), and electronics manufacturer (Sony), who have been tackling this problem for many years. They will provide insight on this problem and potential solutions including answers to the questions below and more:

How big is the eWaste problem?
What do new and evolving eWaste laws require and where are they headed?
What impact will “Producer Responsibility” laws, ARF fees, and other measures mean for me and my company?
What eWaste processing standards and certifications are available and how do I ensure I am dealing with responsible partners?
What are the available options for responsibly recycling corporate eWaste and how do I find responsible partners?
What about sensitive corporate and personal data on used corporate electronics?
What do the best-in-class corporations do to handle this problem?

PANELISTS:
Douglas Smith
Director, Corporate Environment, Safety and Health, Sony Electronics Inc.

Doug Smith is the director of corporate environment, safety and health, since 1993. In this role he directs the corporate environmental affairs for North American operations. Smith establishes policies and corporate guidelines covering environmental, safety and health policies and supports the internal audit and ISO 14001 program for Sony North American facilities. Smith currently serves on the board of the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), the producer responsibility organization with over 30,000 collection points for consumer batteries in the US and Canada, and is on board of Portable Rechargeable Battery Association. Smith received Presidential appointment, 2002-2006 to EPA’s Good Neighbor Environmental Board and currently serving on City of San Diego Sustainability and Climate Change Task Force. Prior to this role, Smith served as chemical engineer designing and installing industrial wastewater treatment systems. Smith also held engineering positions at McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company earlier in his career. Smith earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from California State University, Long Beach.

Shelton Basham
SVP Corporate Buyback, Clover Wireless

Shelton Basham is the Senior VP of Corporate Buyback for Clover Wireless, a leader in private label trade-in, buy-back and repair services for cellular carriers, retailers and OEMs. He directs innovative reverse logistics solutions for companies’ nationwide dealing with used and discarded wireless equipment while facilitating the reduction of e-waste. Shelton co-founded Full Circle Wireless in 2003 with the then almost unheard of concept of “wireless buyback.” He served various roles over the years including: strategic planning, business development, marketing and management. In November of last year, Clover Technologies (based out of Ottawa, IL) purchased this and two other wireless entities to form Clover Wireless. With the acquisition, the team based in Irvine, CA has negotiated major business partnerships and alliances leading to new and different solutions for data security, e-waste and customer experience. Before entering the wireless and telecom arenas, Shelton worked in news radio, serving in production, editorial and on-air capacities.

Bob Erie
CEO, E-World Recyclers
Bob Erie is the Founder and CEO of E-World Recycler and has over fifteen years of experience in the electronics recycling field. Bob founded E-World Recyclers in 2006 in an effort to create a state of the art recycling facility and the company has since attracted many of San Diego’s most prominent manufacturers and businesses. The company has also been involved in helping to develop and test the Responsible Recycler (R2) Standard, a set of rules which prevents the export of electronic waste to third world nations and in 2010 E-World Recyclers became one of the first companies in the nation to achieve R2 certification. Since 2009 Bob has worked to create a network of recyclers across the nation to help meet the needs of manufacturers who are now being held responsible for recycling efforts in various states. The result of Bob’s vision has been E-World Online and the Manufacturer Interstate Take-Back System or MITS. In 2012 the E-World Online MITS program will be responsible for recycling approximately 60 million pounds of electronics in 21 states on behalf of 12 manufacturers.

MODERATOR:
Mark Bowles
CMO & Co-Founder, EcoATM

Mark Bowles has over 25 years experience in wireless, semiconductor, distribution, retail and eWaste industries, including 7 years at Motorola and the formation and funding of 5 venture-backed tech start-ups resulting in 4 M&A’s (2 over $100M). Mark has an eMBA from Pepperdine. Mark is the primary inventor (6 patents to date) for the ecoATM system.

SIG CO-CHAIRS:
Alex Kim, Director, Customer Innovations, SDG&E
Thomas Hartman, Managing Director, Ventana Capital
Gary Hawkins, Vice President, Sun Ray Solutions Inc.
Maria Sendra, Partner, Jones Day
Joel Garcia, Co-Founder, CM Tech Partners
Mark Bowles, Chief Marketing Officer & Founder, EcoATM

DATE:
October 2nd 2012

TIME:
5:30PM Registration/Networking/Refreshments
6:00PM Program Begins
7:30PM Program Ends

LOCATION:

3580 Carmel Mountain Road Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92130

COST:
Pre-Registration: (Please pre-register by noon on 10/01/12)
$10.00 – CommNexus Sponsor
$20.00 – Non-Sponsor
FREE – Mentor Sponsor

At the Door:
$20.00 – CommNexus Sponsor
$30.00 – Non-Sponsor
FREE – Mentor Sponsor

Students, Military & Press: FREE

SIG EVENT SPONSORED BY:

Questions? Contact Brittany Bjerke at bbjerke@commnexus.org