A set of new policies based on recommendations made by the Obama Administration's Federal Electronics Stewardship Working Group were recently announced.   

Representing a partnership between the federal government, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)  and e-scrap processors, some highlights from the new policy directed the government to do the following:

Encourage the development of more efficient and sustainable electronics and direct federal agencies to procure and recycle their electronics responsibly.

The federal government is the largest single consumer of electronics and wields enormous purchasing power.  Using the new guidelines, the General Services Administration (GSA) will remove products from its purchase contracts that do not meet environmental and efficiency guidelines - specifically, products that do not meet Energy Star and Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) requirements, and/or ones that are not designed for recycling.  The GSA is also directed to use certified electronics processors or manufacturer take-back programs for all non-functional equipment disposal.  A landfill ban is also in effect for all federal IT equipment.   

Support recycling options for consumers. 

Dell, Sprint and Sony were all on-hand when the announcement was made emphasizing their commitment to electronics recycling options in the consumer space.  With half the nation's states now implementing electronics recycling programs, and all of those - except California - relying on some form of extended producer responsibility, the participation of OEMs and retailers is critical to successful electronics recycling expansion.  The new policies encourage companies to voluntarily adopt similar environmental and efficiency guidelines for their consumer products, to those used by the GSA.

To read more about new federal strategies to promote electronics recycling go to the Resource Recycling website at