Aluminum producer Alcoa and Waste Management (WM) Recycle America have joined the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER), a group of U.S. companies that support the proposed Responsible Electronics Recycling Act.
With the addition of Alcoa and WM Recycle America, CAER now comprises 48 member companies.
The proposed legislation, introduced in June 2011, calls for export restrictions on U.S. electronic scrap. Proponents say the legislation would reduce the dumping of toxic e-waste in developing nations while also fostering job growth and expansion of the U.S. recycling industry.
John Shegerian, president of Electronic Recyclers International (ERI) and CAER steering committee member, points out that Alcoa and WM Recycle America join the likes of such companies as Sims Recycling Solutions, Best Buy, LG and Samsung in supporting the bill. “When you have two of the greatest, iconic brands in the U.S.,” says Shegerian, “and they join in, it’s really a game changer.”
Shegerian also says he expects additional bipartisan support for what he calls a growing consensus. “There are many, many other brands that are going to be following them,” he says. “People really want to do the right thing.”
For their part, executives from both Alcoa and Waste Management have expressed their commitment in a CAER statement.
“We believe strongly in limiting the export of hazardous electronic waste,” says Bill Caesar, president of WM Recycle America.
“Alcoa’s partnership with the largest electronics recycler in the U.S., Electronic Recyclers International, provides both an economic and environmental solution to e-waste,” says Kevin Anton, Alcoa’s vice president and chief sustainability officer. Alcoa purchased a 10-percent ownership stake in Fresno, Calif.- based ERI in early 2011.
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