E-recycling program might not be achieving its full potential

An Environmental Protection Agency program that encourages federal agencies to recycle old computers and other electronics has achieved limited success throughout government and the nation, federal auditors said.

A new Government Accountability Office report (GAO-10-626) noted initiatives EPA co-manages with partners inside and outside government to promote voluntary green technology practices have had a positive, but limited, effect on recycling e-waste.

One program that was highlighted -- the Federal Electronics Challenge -- asks agencies to buy eco-friendly information technology, save energy when using equipment, and discard used electronics in an environmentally sound manner. President Obama, in a fall 2009 executive order, also called on agencies to set an example for all Americans by placing green IT provisions in federal contracts.

The idea is that federal government, which spends billions of dollars on IT annually, can wield its influence over the technology industry to increase e-recycling opportunities for consumers and expand the market for environmentally sound products.

"However, EPA has not systematically analyzed the agency's partnership programs, such as the Federal Electronics Challenge, to determine whether the impact of each program could be augmented," the report stated. "Moreover, EPA does not have a plan for coordinating its efforts with state recycling programs or articulating how EPA's partnership programs can best assist stakeholders to achieve the environmentally sound management of used electronics."

Although an increasing number of agencies and facilities are participating in the challenge, they represent only a third of the federal workforce, the auditors wrote.

Also, most of these federal organizations are not following environmentally sound procedures throughout a product's life cycle, according to GAO. For example, EPA told auditors that agencies and facilities participating in 2009 reported 96 percent of the computers and monitors they acquired met environmental performance standards, as defined by the EPA-funded electronic product environmental assessment tool. But only two federal offices managed their electronics in an eco-friendly fashion from procurement to deployment to disposal.

GAO officials recommended the EPA administrator assess how each of the agency's partnership programs could be enhanced and then document a strategy that combined the initiatives into a larger effort aimed at instituting e-recycling nationwide.

After reviewing a draft of the report, EPA officials told GAO they agreed with the auditors' recommendations.

"We are in the process of reaching out to a variety of stakeholders (manufacturers recyclers, retailers, nongovernmental organizations and states) on the topic of electronics," EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus wrote in a May 28 letter to GAO officials. "As we do this, we will be gathering and analyzing input on ways to sharpen our voluntary approaches. This analysis will be incorporated into any new strategy we develop."