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As Computers Go Green, Opportunities Arise
New EPA Standards Could Help Local Business
Sunday, July 30, 2006
BY STEFANIE MURRAY
News Business Reporter
No one really cared a few years ago when Thomas Schramm started selling "green'' computer parts.
Environmental concerns about the toxic stuff inside most computers - like lead, mercury, cadmium or flame retardants - hadn't yet caught the attention of the general public.
But now the timing may be right for Schramm. A former wholesale computer component salesman, the Ann Arbor man began assembling and selling environmentally friendly computers earlier this year through his new company, GreenMachineShop.com.
On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its first-ever set of standards for green computers in the United States. They are known as the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT.
"The time is better now (in the U.S.) than it was just a few years ago,'' said Schramm, a native of Germany who has sold about 20 of his "green'' machines so far this year, to companies like People's Food Cooperative in Ann Arbor.
"It feels,'' he said, "like the consciousness here is shifting.''
A growing industry The green computer industry - already hot in Europe, thanks to government regulations - is one many hope will grow dramatically here in the coming years due to the proliferation of computers in homes and offices, stricter regulations and media exposure of the toxic electronic landfills created in parts of Asia where old computers are shipped.
Groups that track "e-waste'' estimate that as many as 600 million computers will be obsolete in the coming five years in the U.S. and will need to be disposed of.
Many will contain high levels of hazardous materials. According to the Northeast Recycling Council, an estimated 315 million computers landfilled from 1997 to
2004 consisted of 1.2 billion pounds of lead, 2 million pounds of cadmium, 400,000 pounds of mercury and 1.2 million pounds of hexavalent chromium.
The war against e-waste is being fought on two fronts: Recycling computers out there now and making sure new computers meet environmental standards, like EPEAT. Almost 70 different types of computers already meet the agency's "green'' criteria.
New regulations define as "green'' products that have lower levels of toxic materials, are easier to upgrade and recycle, and that meet the government's guidelines for energy efficiency.
The EPA estimates that over the next five years, purchases of computers meeting the EPEAT rules will:
Reduce hazardous waste by 13 million pounds and non-hazardous waste by 3 million pounds.
Reduce energy use by 600,000 megawatt-hours, enough to power 6 million homes.
Going green
Computer companies like Apple have been retooling many electronic products to be more environmentally friendly. Computer giants like Dell and HP already have products that already meet the EPA's new standard, the agency said in a statement.
"There are similar standards in development in different countries all over the world,'' said Jeff Omelchuck, executive director of the Green Electronics Council, which is implementing the EPEAT system. "That's because electronic products truly do have an environmental impact.''
Schramm, who wants his company to grow nationwide, says his machines go beyond both U.S. and European "green'' standards. They also are designed, he says, to emit fewer electromagnetic waves, be ergonomic, highly energy-efficient, quieter and easier on the eyes.
The People's Food Co-op opted for a "green'' computer specifically because the co-op wanted to make sure it was contributing less pollution to the environment. The co-op has liked it so much, it might replace all its computers with green ones, said information technology coordinator Rusty Brach.
While the cost is slightly higher than a regular computer - Schramm's machines generally cost between $1,000 and $1,800 - Brach said they are worth it in the long run.
"You virtually can't even hear the computers when they are on,'' Brach said. "The (monitors) seem to be brighter but the contrast is better, so it's not as tiring.''
Michael Kim, a search engine marketing consultant who owns Inspired Traffic Inc. in Saline, also bought a computer from Schramm this year. He says his electricity bill has dropped 30 percent in the past three months because of it.
"The idea that I'll have less of an environmental impact in terms of the amount of lead and brominated flame retardants is great,'' Kim said, "especially because I know I'll use a lot of computers in my lifetime.''
Morgan & York Fine Wines and Specialty Foods in Ann Arbor will get its first green computer this week, co-owner Matt Morgan said.
The problem of "E-waste''
On the flip side of creating green computers is disposing of the computers that aren't green. Industry experts say the brunt of the U.S.'s e-waste problem is sitting in closets and basements in nearly every home in the country.
Old, broken and unwanted electronics, from TVs to radios to computers to kitchen appliances, are being stored by millions of people who really don't know what else to do with them. "People hold onto stuff because they do know better ,'' said Lynell Shooks of nonprofit, Grand Rapids-based Comprenew Environmental Trust, which recycles old computers.
Still, many choose to haul the machines to the curb as trash. According to research cited by the EPA, 150 million computers were in landfills as of last year - a figure that's expected to swell to 1 billion by 2010.
That's why environmental advocates, joined by scrap companies, urge computer recycling.
Computer recycling typically involves stripping a machine, reusing the good parts, separating and recycling the pieces that can't be reused, properly disposing of the hazardous parts and harvesting scrap metal from the rest. The end goal is to ensure that not a single atom ends up in a landfill.
Groups ranging from Comprenew to for-profit scrap companies like ScrapComputer.Com in Ann Arbor do just that. Other groups, like Recycle Ann Arbor, Goodwill Industries and the Salvation Army, collect old computers for reuse or recycling.
The cost to refurbish one computer is approximately $50. However, fewer than 10 percent of discarded computers are currently recycled, according to the Computer Take Back Campaign.
This is where the government hopes computer makers, including small companies like Schramm's, will come in. Part of the new EPEAT standards include language requiring computer components be labeled for their content and put together in a way that makes them easy to take apart - either to upgrade or to strip for recycling.
"It's like thinking about what kind of food and packaging you are choosing when you go to the grocery store,'' Shooks said about choosing such a green computer. "You should think the same way about your computer.''
Contact Stefanie Murray at smurray@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6932.
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