A Conservation Report Original

Friday, 7 September 2007

Sony is taking the lead by developing the electronic recycling infrastructure

We believe the concept of green encompasses providing “more with less.” …we will continue to provide more value to our customers using less energy, less plastics, less glass, less metal and, in general, less components.

- Rick Clancy of Sony

Electronics have the potential to be an environmental nightmare because they are typically made with toxic materials. In addition, the resources used to make electronics can be expensive, so recycling is important. To make it easier for the consumer and improve the willingness to recycle electronics, Sony is the first to have drop-off centers for hard to recycle electronics such as CD players, fax machines, game consoles, old TVs, stereos, walkmans, etc. Historically, corporations have been reluctant to provide the infrastructure to the consumer for recycling electronics. However, Sony is taking the lead in developing that infrastructure.

By Buck Denton

Rick Clancy the Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and host of the Sony Electronics blog was kind enough to join me at The Conservation Report. I asked him the following questions about Sony’s recycling efforts:

The Conservation Report: Environmentalists have been advocating drop-off centers for some time and states are taking the lead in handling electronic waste by either adding an environmental tax at the time of purchase or requiring companies to do more. Why now? Is it the changing attitudes and perceptions about conservation and the environment within society or do other factors exist?

Rick Clancy: Actually, we introduced our first drop-off center in Minnesota in 2000. Over the last seven years we have increased the number of drop-off centers in that state to 16. Based upon our experiences in running that program with Waste Management and with the massive transition taking place in America from analogue cathode ray tube televisions to flat-panel high-definition TVs — combined with the plethora of other consumer electronics devices that are reaching their end-of-life — we believe that now is the perfect time to take a national initiative along the lines of the Sony Take Back Recycling Program.

The Conservation Report: How does Sony choose the drop-off centers, and how extensive will Sony develop the infrastructure? Does Sony have a goal for the number of recycling centers it will make available to the public, and if so, when does Sony want to reach that goal? Will Sony work with other partners to host recycling drop-off centers? For example, will there be recycling centers at Wal-Mart?

Rick Clancy: With the Sony Take Back Recycling Program, we are partnering with Waste Management in the selection of the drop-off centers. Waste Management has more than 800 locations throughout the United States, plus many more vendor and subcontractor locations. We are working with Waste Management to use locations that are best suited for this program. This involves various considerations, ranging from public access to staff training to understanding different regulatory requirements. We set a first year goal of having 150 of the drop-off centers (at least one in every state) in operation that will meet both Sony’s and Waste Management’s standards.

Our ultimate aim is for it to be as easy for a consumer to have a product recycled as it is for him or her to purchase a product. Eventually, our goal is to have at least one center located within at least 20 miles of 95 percent of the U.S. population. We would like to achieve this not only through Sony’s efforts, but also with the support of other electronics manufacturers and retailers.

The Conservation Report: How will the waste be handled? For example, can I go and just throw my TV into a large box? What will the centers look like? Who will pick up the waste and where will it be taken apart and recycled?

Rick Clancy: Consumers can either bring their end-of-life products to the designated Waste Management recycling centers or, for smaller items, they can mail them to designated regional centers. In the long run, through coordination with retailers, we hope that the products can be picked up as part of the delivery experience in receiving new products.

It’s important to note that all Sony-branded products, ranging from televisions and stereo systems to cameras and videogame consoles, will be recycled at the participating centers at no charge to consumers.

The actual recycling of the products, including taking them apart down to their core materials like plastic, metals and glass, will be done by Waste Management at these facilities. This material will then be sold as a commodity for reuse.

The Conservation Report: How does Sony make recycling electronics particularly televisions cost effective? Are enough resources extracted through the recycling process to make the program cost effective?

Rick Clancy: Sony is making a significant investment in this program. One example of our investment, as well as being more cost effective, is through design changes to our products. By eliminating the old cathode ray tube technology through the introduction of micro-displays and flat-panel LCD televisions, we have removed the most costly part of the recycling process, which is recycling of the glass. We believe that through the efficiency of these and other design changes, recycling will become cost effective over the next five to ten years.

In regard to resources extracted from recycled products, Waste Management is in the business of recycling products into core materials and then selling the commodities to various manufacturers that use them in the production of new products.

The Conservation Report: How do you respond to cynical reactions or scoffs at voluntary regulation, because there is always skepticism amongst some groups of people? What would you say to try to change their position?

Rick Clancy: While we would welcome federal legislation so there would be one nationwide approach to this important issue, this does not seem likely in the near future. Instead, states are coming up with different laws that make it more challenging for a manufacturer to comply without raising costs. With the Sony Take Back Recycling Program, we have initiated a national approach to recycling electronics that we believe works for practically all stakeholders, including consumers, manufacturers, retailers and government interests. To this point, we welcome other manufacturers and retailers to join the program.

The Conservation Report: Will Sony take back any type of electronic device from any manufacturer?

Rick Clancy: This program is designed to take back any electronic device from any manufacturer. All Sony-branded electronic products will be recycled at participating Waste Management centers for free. Devices from other manufacturers will also be accepted by Waste Management at the participating facilities, although there will be modest fees. Hopefully, other manufacturers will follow our lead, join the program, and subsidize the cost of their products being recycled so there is no charge for them either. Eventually, we hope this will make the recycling of electronics profitable so that a subsidy is no longer necessary.

The Conservation Report: Can you comment on Sony’s future efforts in making electronics more “green” particularly televisions?

Rick Clancy: It is in our “DNA” to make products that give more value using less resources. Sony is no longer producing cathode ray tube televisions. Beyond TV’s, we have specific initiatives within our products to minimize the number of components and make them much more energy efficient. We believe the concept of green encompasses providing “more with less.” With all our electronics products, we will continue to provide more value to our customers using less energy, less plastics, less glass, less metal and, in general, less components.

The Conservation Report: Many thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions. I wish you the best of luck. Rick Clancy is the Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and host of the Sony Electronics blog. For more information about Sony Electronics Inc. and recycling visit www.sony.com/recycle, www.Sony.com/news as well as www.Sony.com/ElectronicsBlog.

————- The buck stops here at The Conservation Report otherwise reach me at buckdenton@gmail.com