The Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA) says recycling electronics is an imporant part of saving the environment.
Gayleen Creelman, EPRA Program Director for Saskatchewan, says electronics recycling has been an option in Saskatchewan since 2007.
“EPRA is an industry-led program that is charged with ensuring that the regulations in each of the different provinces for end-of-life electronics and ensure they are properly managed, with the exception of Alberta.
“Electronics recycling started in Saskatchewan back in 2007. We were the first province to have an industry-led electronics recycling program. Industry-led means that it is the responsibility of the manufacturers and distributors of the product to provide an end-of-life recycling program for the devices that are put into the market for sale,” Creelman explained.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, EPRA was unable to host any special events for Earth Week and instead has focused on spreading awareness of the program and the benefits it brings.
“We’re not doing anything specific as far as special events or anything like that in the time of COVID. What’s Inside Counts, our current campaign, is in respect to the time we’re in and Earth Week is important because it’s what’s inside our homes, what’s inside ourselves is what counts. Both our health and well-being and also the planet,” said Creelman.
“What’s inside our devices counts because the plastic, the glass, the metals, all of that can be recycled. What we do with it is we take it back from the consumer when it’s no longer working or is no longer useful to anyone else. We break it down into those base components such as aluminum, steel, plastic, and glass and that goes back around the world and into the manufacturing supply chain to make new devices.”
Creelman explains that the components used in most electronics do not decompose in landfills. Because of this, EPRA is encouraging the public to utilize their program.
“It benefits the environment by keeping this material out of landfills. That’s not where it belongs. It does not break down, just like when it’s in the earth, metals, plastics, and glass just sit there until it’s processed. So we want it outside the landfills.
“With our program, the first stage and second stage of processing are done here in Canada. Therefore we’re not sending it overseas to countries that may not handle it properly or may not have the criteria with respect to occupational health and safety that we do. We’re really giving people an outlet that when they buy or have an electronic device they want to recycle that they know where to go at the end of the device’s life.
“With a cellphone for example, because it has a battery inside of it, it will be manually dismantled so that the battery can be removed because those batteries do pose a concern for the workers and the entities that are actually processing them with respect to fire.
“Once that battery is removed, the device goes into a shredder. It is then destroyed and typically gets shredded multiple times and then all those different elements get broken up and go along to their different streams.”
When purchasing new electronics, a small environmental handling fee is applied. Creelman says this fee is put in place to cover the costs associated with the government-regulated EPRA program to provide a safe way to dispose of electronics when they are at the end of their life.
“The product that consumers bring back to us isn’t donated. We are just a collector on behalf of all of our manufacturers. So at the point of purchase, new devices since 2007 have an environmental handling fee that is applied. That fee goes to our organization and that’s our pool of money to ensure that we can recycle any of those devices at their end of life.
“You’re paying ahead something like 10 cents a mouse, a dollar something for a computer, and around 10 dollars for a big-screen TV. It’s not a levy and it’s not a tax, it’s just a fee that covers the program. I’m tasked with ensuring that the fee is reasonable and that any of the collection, transportation, or processing is covered within that fee that is charged. It’s a small fee. When people drop off stuff we do not reuse the devices, we do not reuse any components like hard drives, we don’t try to fix anything. It is solely coming back to us so we can recapture the resources that were used in making it in the first place.”
Because the products are broken down, Creelman says no data is stored and everything is destroyed, but still encourages members of the public to wipe their data before bringing it to the drop-off.
“We do encourage people to try to wipe their information off a device,” Creelman said.
“But oftentimes when it’s coming to us it’s because they can’t turn it on.”
But before bringing electronics to an EPRA dropoff, Creelman says that products should be used until they cannot be fixed.
She says that donating an old phone, TV, or computer is something that should be considered if the product still works.
“Some devices today have multiple lives. You can buy them new from a store, you can buy them used from a store. We do encourage reuse before bringing them to us. There are lots of different ways to reuse such as donating it to a family member, donating it to a community organization like a church or a school. We encourage reuse, but we know there is a point in time that even though the device is working, no one wants it anymore.
“We also take things like printers, DVD players, VCRs, GPS devices, and so forth. Things like DVD players and VCR players often end up at the lake cabin with the different movies that you’ve collected for rainy days and whatnot. That’s what we encourage as a second-use at a minimum. Unless it’s broken and can’t be fixed, then for sure bring it to us. Don’t toss it in the garbage or the recycling because it will just end up in a landfill.”
EPRA will accept a wide variety of different products that are regulated by the Government of Canada, including charging cords, earbuds, wires, and much more.
“We have a list of products that we do take which is covered under regulations. It’s the government that determines what products are allowed to be covered under the regulations. There are some things we don’t take, for example, small appliances. With the exception of microwaves, we don’t take small appliances. Even though there’s a small circuit board in a coffee maker, that doesn’t make it covered under our program.
“Some things that people don’t realize is that it doesn’t matter the age of the device. A 50-year-old TV can come in for recycling because once a product is put under regulation then all previous productions of that product are covered, regardless if an environmental handling fee was paid or not.”
EPRA sites are located across Saskatchewan including sites in Moosomin, Redvers, Esterhazy, Kipling, Broadview, and Grenfell. Drop-off of electronic devices is free.
