Committee Forming for Northeast Electronics Reuse Study

The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) has received a commitment from EPA Regions I and II, as well as the Maine State Planning Office to fund a market study for reused electronics in the Northeast states. The idea from this study originated at NERC's March meeting in Hartford, as a strategy for providing states with the information they need on this industry sector.

The Market Study will focus on the following reuse sectors: non-profit organizations, repair shops/retailers, equipment manufacturers and lease programs, and for-profit processors.

The type of information to be targeted will be: which products are being refurbished and resold as working products; methods for determining whether to repair, resell or recycle; identifying volume of television and computer sales or donations by each vendor category; determine how vendors are obtaining used electronics for refurbishing/resale and associated costs; price range of resold televisions and computers, by each vendor category.

Existing domestic and export markets for reused electronics- where are they selling and how does the growth potential appear; which markets have proven unsuccessful or unreliable for reused electronics- where might you expect them to be in demand; approx-imate the life span of reused electronics; disposal management options for reused electronics; vendors' opinions of viability of reuse strategies; vendors' recommendations for improving viability and success of reuse strategies.

NERC anticipates an October 1 start date for this project. An Advisory Committee will be formed for this project. Anyone interested in participating, or with questions, please contact NERC at 802-254-3636.