Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Dumping ground

Computers. Big-screen and not-so-big televisions. Cell phones and stereos. The detritus of high-tech civilization is piling up in Nevada, and all those gizmos come with a price: They are loaded with potentially toxic materials.

The easiest way to toss electronic components is still to throw them in a trash bin, from which it will ultimately go into a landfill. Some people take computer screens, old televisions and other electronic components out to the desert, where the material becomes impromptu targets for would-be gunslingers.

Local, state and federal officials say that while desert dumping is unusual, any amount is of concern because electronic components routinely contain lead, cadmium, chromium, beryllium, arsenic, mercury and other metals - even the less toxic, but valuable, gold.

Like much of the country, Nevada is just beginning to stress recycling such components. In neighboring California, a new program paid $29 million to collect almost 61 million pounds of recyclable electronic components last year, according to Lanny Clavecilla, a spokesman for the California Integrated Waste Management Board, a state agency.

Clavecilla said so far this year, the volume of material gathered is up 90 percent. In the California program, a fee of $6 to $10 is collected with the sale of computers, televisions and other electronic components. Those fees support a network of collectors and recyclers.

"It's one of the first of its kind," Clavecilla said. In California, it is illegal to dump electronic components such as televisions or computers into landfills.

John Shegerian, president and co-founder of Los Angeles' Electronic Recyclers LLC, sees opportunity in Nevada and elsewhere for the California e-waste recycling model.

"Electronic waste is the fastest-growing solid waste stream in the world," Shegerian said. It is "an industry created out of the technology revolution, an industry in its infancy."

Shegerian's company and competitors break down electronic components and extract the commodities that can be reused - metals, plastics and glass. They then sell those commodities to equipment manufacturers around the world.

He said that when electronic components go into a landfill, the metals can seep into the ground, water and air supply: "When these components are being used, there's no problem with them. When it gets to a landfill, or gets broken, or disposed of inappropriately, then it becomes a crisis."

In Las Vegas, electronic equipment might even be more omnipresent than in California.

"If today you walked into a casino in Nevada, you are surrounded by electronics," Shegerian said. "Televisions, cameras, slot machines. When you go home you're surrounded; when you go into your office, you're surrounded."

Shegerian, who freely admits he's got an economic interest in the issue, said he'd like Nevada and other states to follow California's lead.

An executive with one of Las Vegas' handful of local electronic recyclers, the Blind Center of Nevada, agreed.

Bob Waldorf, vice president of the Blind Center of Nevada, said his nonprofit agency employs a half-dozen blind people in an operation that last year collected about 160,000 pounds of computers and related electronic equipment in Las Vegas.

The Blind Center works with companies to recycle the material, but Waldorf said just a fraction of the material is being collected.

Most computers, cathode-ray tubes and other equipment are "just being dumped in landfills."

A recycling fee and infrastructure such as the one in California could support more employees at the Blind Center and other companies.

Waldorf said the recovery and recycling of the valuable minerals in electronic materials could be done domestically - for years what recycling has occurred has been exported to Asia - and would support a home-grown industry.

"We definitely could be one of the centers," he said. "The buyers for raw materials are out there."

But it could be tough to pass a law similar to California's. Waldorf said efforts in Nevada's 2005 legislative sessions failed. A few companies, among them industry giant Dell Inc., opposed the recycling fee in California and oppose the exportation of the system to other states.

Caroline Dietz, a spokeswoman for the global computer retailer, said Dell supports recycling and complies with regulations in place, but opposes new government infrastructure and fees: "In general, Dell supports a policy which makes producers responsible for the recovery and recycling of their own branded products to consumers at no charge."

Practicing what the company preaches, Dell has offered free or low-cost recycling options for its customers for years, Dietz said. Beginning this month, the company will begin accepting any Dell-branded product for recycling regardless of whether a replacement product is purchased, she said.

Those without Dell products still have options, said Kathryn Fergus, Southern Nevada recycling coordinator for the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. She said the state agency hopes to collect electronic components for recycling later this year or next.

Until then, there are a number of companies and sites where people can recycle. The motivation for taking the extra step, Fergus said, would be helping out schools - which can sometimes reuse older equipment - or protecting the environment.

People can find a list of Clark County recyclers at www.ndep.nv.gov\recycl\recycle.htm.

"When you have thousands of computers land-filled, they contain a small amount of contaminants. Thousands can be a problem We need to get the message out. Contact one of these organizations to see if they can take your computer, printer or fax machine."

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