2018201820182018 Collection Results

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Electronics Recycling Electronics Recycling Electronics Recycling Electronics Recycling

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1 2018 Electronics Recycling Collection Report | Illinois EPA

INTRODUCTION

Illinois’s statewide electronics recycling program began January 1, 2012

under the Electronic Products Recycling & Reuse Act (EPRRA). In total,

between January 2012 and December 2018, Illinois households produced

more than 380 million pounds of electronics to be recycled through the

Illinois Electronics Recycling Program.

EPPRA established a program to collect obsolete residential electronic

products and recycle, refurbish or reuse these materials. Under this law,

manufacturers of the covered electronic devices (CEDs), listed in Table

1, must register with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

(IEPA) the brands they offer for sale to Illinois residents at retail. Each

year, those manufacturers were required to recycle, refurbish or reuse a

target weight of electronics based on their sales data. In 2018, the

statewide goal was 49.6 million pounds.

PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

Collectors and recyclers played a vital role in having a successful

program. Figure 1 illustrates registration trends over the last six years.

Collectors who registered with the Agency are responsible for handling

CEDs and EEDs in an environmentally safe manner. Registered collectors

include local governments, electronics retailers, other for-profit

businesses and non-profits.

Registered collectors could have more than one registered collection site.

The number of registered collection sites increased slightly since 2016, with 370 total permanent sites and

one-day collection events. The number of sites was still down by 42 percent from the high of 636 sites in

program year 2014.

The number of registered recyclers decreased over the life of the program by 47 percent from its peak of

47 recyclers in program year 2013. Sixteen of the 22 recyclers (73 percent) were in Illinois, increasing

business and providing job opportunities in the State.

Figure 2 shows the

distribution of registered

collection sites and events

throughout Illinois for

program year 2018.

Nearly 60 counties had

one or more registered

collection sites, covering a

total of 94% of the State’s

population.

COLLECTION TOTALS

AND ANALYSIS

Illinois households

generated more than 47

million pounds of

Covered Electronic Devices Computers

Computer Monitors

Keyboards & Mice

Printers

Scanners

FAX Machines

Small-Scale Servers

Televisions

DVD Players

DVD Recorders

VCRs

Cable Receivers

Satellite Receivers

Digital Converter Boxes

Video Game Consoles

Portable Music Players (with

memory)

Eligible Electronic Devices Computer Cables

Zip Drives

Mobile Telephones

PDAs

574

636

542

332 338370

47 45 39 28 23 220

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Nu

mb

er

reg

iste

red

Program Year

Figure 1. Registered collection locations and recyclers

Collection locations Registered recyclers

Table 1. List of CEDs and EEDs

2 2018 Electronics Recycling Collection Report | Illinois EPA

electronics in 2018, over three times the weight of the Eiffel

Tower. This is equivalent to 3.7 pounds per capita.

Figure 3 illustrates collection trends over the last six years. The

amount of collected CEDs have declined over the last two

years, from an average of 63 million pounds to 47.5 million

pounds in 2018.

The 2018 statewide annual goal was 49.6 million pounds, but

the actual weight collected was 47.5 million pounds.

Manufacturers were able to meet their weight goals by the

double and triple credits that are offered under EPRRA. Five

million pounds were doubled, and eight million pounds were

tripled, totaling over 18 million pounds after applying the

credits. Figure 3 illustrates the downward trend of weight

collected by registered collectors. The amount of CEDs

collected was down by 21 percent from 2017, with 60.5 million

pounds collected in 2017. There does not appear to be a single

reason for the drop in collected weight from program year 2017

to 2018, but consumers are purchasing lighter products as

manufacturers are finding ways to reduce the size and weight

of larger devices, such as TVs.

Collectors and manufacturers are required to annually report to

the Agency the amount of weight collected and recycled from

registered collectors by device category. The six categories

are: computers; monitors; televisions; printers, fax, scanners;

remaining CEDs; and EEDs.

Televisions remain to be the

frontrunner among the 2018

devices collected due to

their weight and size, with a

total of 21.6 million pounds,

but show a downward trend

of 35 percent from 2017.

The reported weight for

remaining CEDs was 10.8

million pounds, printers,

fax, scanners was 5.4

million pounds, computers

was 3.4 million pounds,

monitors was 2.5 million

pounds and EEDs was 3.9

million pounds.

Please contact Melissa Silva at (217) 524-6713, Jessica Miller at (217) 524-7948 or email

EPA.Recycling@illinois.gov if you have any questions related to this report or the Illinois Electronics

Recycling Program.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Mil

lio

ns

of

po

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Progam year

Figure 3: Pounds collected by registered collectors

Covered Electronic Devices Eligible Electronic Devices