Iowa Product Stewardship Initiative
Call #2 Summary
April 20, 2010
Participants
Art Kern, Metro Waste Authority
Bev Wagner, Dubuque Metro Area Solid Waste Agency
Brian Seals, Waste Commission of Scott County, IA
Chuck Goddard, Dubuque Metro Area Solid Waste Agency
Doug Reed, IA Department of Administrative Services
Janice Bain, Ottumwa/Wapello County Recycling Center, IA
Jennifer Ryan, East Central Iowa Council of Governments
Shannon Meister, City of Council Bluffs
Steve Fishman, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Theresa Stiner, IA Department of Natural Resources, Land Quality Bureau
Scott Cassel, PSI
Sierra Fletcher, PSI
On this second call, the group gained more information about two areas that were raised on the first call: e-waste legislation and Iowa’s pharmacy drug take-back program.
Wisconsin’s E-waste Law & the Midwest E-waste Policy Initiative
In 2005, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa developed a regional policy approach to e-waste product stewardship that would create consistent programs and make it easier for both the states (who could share information) and industry (so both manufacturers and recyclers are implementing similar laws in adjacent states). This Midwest E-waste Policy Initiative was led by the state agencies from the five participating states, and did not include a wider stakeholder process. The states developed a policy statement instead of model legislation. Minnesota was the first site to pass legislation according to the policy, and Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin have since passed laws that are similar though not identical. The Iowa DNR would support e-waste legislation introduced in Iowa but not planning to propose such legislation itself.
Wisconsin’s e-waste law passed last fall, and the WI DNR is currently registering collection sites, manufacturers, and recyclers who will operate under the requirements of the law. So far, there are about 300 collection sites, 120 collectors, 25-35 recyclers, and 70 manufacturers (with 115-120 brands) registered.
The WI law covers a wider array of products than in Minnesota, including TVs, monitors, computers, printers, and laptops. The law also specifies a recycling target of 80% in the first year, using sales data from a couple of years ago as the denominator (rather than comparing collections to the current year’s sales as done in Minnesota). This means that at the start of each “program year,” the DNR and manufacturers know exactly how many pounds of products need to be collected by each manufacturer because the sales data is already available. Manufacturers can collect DVD players, VCRs, printers, and other peripheral electronics to count towards their targets. If they exceed their collection targets, they can count the excess quantity towards the next program year (but only 20% of any program year can be carried over).
Manufacturers pay a registration fee to the DNR to support the agency’s oversight of the program. The fee for most manufacturers is $5,000 per year, though companies pay less if they sell less than 250 units per year. The DNR anticipates taking in $250,000 in fees for the first program year, and will use these funds, along with some funds from tipping fees, to hire for two short-term positions (focused on managing the registrations and reporting, and education and outreach). In the long-term, they envision having two full-time staff dedicated to the program: one for administration/coordination, and the other to focus on compliance and enforcement.
Wisconsin’s law does not specify exactly how the manufacturers will account and pay for the pounds of waste they manage. This flexibility has created some initial confusion, but also leaves room for changes in the future. The hope is that this flexibility will reward efficiency and innovation. At this point, established recyclers operating in the state are seeking contracts with manufacturers to collect a specified quantity of waste for an agreed upon price. The recyclers then coordinate with collectors (some of whom are local governments) to take the waste they collect. The other model is that a recycler recycles the products, then seeks a manufacturer to pay for the amount recycled to meet their targets.
There is nothing in the law that requires that waste be recycled in-state, though the DNR hopes to see a growth in the local recycling industry.
The law also includes a landfill ban, which will go into effect September 1. In rural areas, local governments are trying to determine whether they need to operate their own collection sites in order to meet consumers’ needs for an alternative to landfill disposal when the ban goes into effect.
In Iowa, it will be important to have enough costs covered that programs can be sustainable without consumers being required to pay any fee. In Southeast Iowa, where they have had to charge a $5 fee for disposal of white goods, there has been strong resistance from the public. (They went from collection 7000 appliances/year to 2000 after instituting the fee.)
Iowa Pharmacy Drug Take-back Program
Kate Gainer from the Iowa Pharmacy Association presented an overview of the statewide drug take-back program. The program is funded from DNR’s SWAP money ($165,000 for the first year). The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has contracted the Iowa Pharmacy Association to implement the program. The program launched in late 2009 with 309 participating pharmacies, which has increased to 351 today. There is at least one pharmacy participating in each of Iowa’s 99 counties. Each participating pharmacy receives three TakeAway boxes, which are cardboard boxes lined with sorbent padding and designed to be tamper evident. They have a one-way opening for depositing medications. Once filled, the boxes are shipped to Sharps Compliance, Inc. in Houston, Texas where they are incinerated at a municipal solid waste incinerator. Currently, the program does not accept controlled substances though Sharps Compliance, Inc. is set up to offer witnessed burns. The program also cannot accept containers of liquid that are larger than 4 ounces and non-drug products. In addition to the boxes, the IPA provides outreach materials that pharmacies can customize for their use.
If grant funds run out, IPA believes some pharmacies would continue the program on their own as a community service. The boxes cost $110 each, including shipping both ways and destruction of the contents.
New pharmacies are welcome to join by contacting Kate directly at .
Next Steps from Today
· E-waste:
o Review and discuss draft legislation that Theresa prepared based on Minnesota’s law
o Review financial flows for a better understanding of how the money moves through a system as described above in Wisconsin
o Is this something that would work for local agencies in Iowa, and how? How does it fit in with other priorities (such as paint)?
3 | Iowa Product Stewardship Initiative Conference Call Summary