![]() ![]() ![]() The second part of Best Buy’s decision was to remove the requirement that its recyclers be certified to e-Stewards. A good example of this is the fact that several recyclers have ended up stockpiling thousands of tons of lead-laden CRT glass, because (in some cases at least) they didn’t get paid enough by their manufacturer clients to cover the high cost of responsibly processing it. This makes it difficult for consumers who want access to ongoing sites where they can bring their old products.Īnother problem is that many manufacturers have been squeezing their recyclers by paying lower and lower prices per pound, putting enormous pressure on an industry that’s already reeling from the drop in commodity prices – the prices for which they can sell the materials in our old products once they disassemble them. For states which have annual collection goals, once the manufacturers hit their goal, they stop collecting for the rest of the year. That means not offering physical collection sites if it’s not required. But over time, we have seen that with a few exceptions (notably Samsung, Dell, LG and Best Buy) most manufacturers will do only what the law requires, and nothing more. Many states have passed 'producer responsibility' recycling laws, requiring manufacturers to take back and recycle old products. This is particularly true for the big stuff – monitors, TVs, printers and multi-function machines. People want to drop off their old stuff at a physical location, and not bother finding a box and packing it up to ship for recycling. Most offer mailback recycling programs, but most consumers don’t use them except for trading in high-value items like smartphones. While many of them do have takeback programs, most do little or nothing in the states where the law doesn’t require it. Manufacturers are ultimately responsibleīut ultimately, it’s the manufacturers who have the most responsibility here. We continue to encourage consumers to stop buying electronics from retailers who do little to encourage and facilitate recycling and reuse of old products. And they should be doing much more to make sure all this stuff gets reused and recycled responsibly.ĮTBC did a Retailer Takeback Report Card in 2013, which found that other than Best Buy, Staples and Office Depot, other retailers were doing very little. These retail giants are part of the enormous marketing engine that drive consumers to buy, buy, buy. 4 consumer electronics retailers in 2014, continue to do nothing very meaningful to help consumers recycle all the products we are buying from them, especially the big stuff like TVs. Other big retailers still doing appallingly little Goodwill, partnering with Dell, also offers takeback in many areas, but again, they are increasingly saying no to TVs.) So in many places, the choices for consumers who want to get rid of an old TV have been: a) take it to Best Buy, b) put it in the landfill (still legal in many states), or c) dump it on the sidewalk or someplace else illegally. (Staples has a good takeback program, but it doesn’t accept TVs. In the 25 states with no takeback laws, Best Buy has been pretty much the only recycling game in town, or even entire counties, for electronics recycling, particularly for big stuff like TVs. While we recognize that Best Buy seeks to cover its costs, we believe that most people will find the $25 fee too high, and may be driven to trashing, dumping or using irresponsible recyclers. The Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) doesn’t dispute the fact that the economics of TV recycling are bad – there is almost no market for used CRT glass, and commodity values for other materials from electronics (plastic, steel and other metals) crashed in 2015, and continue to slide downward. Certification to e-Stewards is now optional for their vendors.īest Buy, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S., stated that its goal is not to dissuade customers from bringing back TVs, but it simply needs to cover the increasing costs of TV recycling. Second, it removed the requirement that its recycling vendors be certified to the e-Stewards standard, which is the highest standard in the marketplace particularly on requirements for worker health and safety and exporting e-waste to developing countries. It will continue to take other products back for free. This applies to CRT (tube) TVs/monitors as well as flat panel TVs. First, the retailer has instituted a steep fee of $25 for every TV or monitor collected for recycling. On Monday, Best Buy announced some significant and unfortunate changes to its electronics takeback and recycling program.
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