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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, On September 17, 2008, the Electronic Products
3Recycling and Reuse Act, Public Act 95-0959, was enacted,
4setting forth procedures for the recycling and reuse of covered
5electronic devices in Illinois; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act
7banned the disposal of covered electronic devices in landfills
8and incinerators beginning January 1, 2012; and
 
9    WHEREAS, To provide adequate collection of discarded
10electronic devices and comply with the disposal ban, more than
11300 collection sites statewide are currently registered with
12the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to accept
13electronic wastes; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Local governments statewide have contracted with
15electronic waste processors and recyclers for collection,
16reuse, and recycling of discarded electronics, providing a
17vital service to their residents; and
 
18    WHEREAS, A significant component of the discarded
19electronic waste stream collected to date has been, and
20continues to be, cathode ray tube (CRT) devices, including
21televisions and computer monitors; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, CRT glass contains lead at a sufficiently high
2concentration to meet the definition of hazardous waste,
3necessitating handling of the glass in a manner that protects
4human health and the environment; and
 
5    WHEREAS, The principal recycling market for CRT glass was
6historically the production of new CRTs; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Demand for new CRTs historically provided an
8economic incentive to recycle CRT glass for use in the
9manufacturing of new CRTs, and recyclers received revenue for
10the CRT glass provided to CRT manufacturers; and
 
11    WHEREAS, New CRTs have essentially ceased to be purchased
12in the United States, and there are no CRT manufacturing
13facilities located in the United States; and
 
14    WHEREAS, All CRT glass used in the manufacturing of new
15CRTs is now exported to India, to the sole remaining CRT
16manufacturing facility in the world; and
 
17    WHEREAS, There exist limited additional available outlets
18for the legitimate recycling of CRT glass in the United States;
19and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The quantity of CRT glass collected far exceeds
2current demand and available markets for the glass; and
 
3    WHEREAS, CRT glass processing and recycling now carries a
4substantial cost, which constitutes a significant change since
5the Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act was enacted in
62008; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The increased cost to process CRT glass has caused
8electronic waste collection programs operated by local
9governments in Illinois to either bear the cost increases or be
10discontinued to avoid accumulation of CRTs; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Stockpiles of abandoned CRT glass have been
12discovered at several former electronic waste processing
13facilities across the United States, primarily due to the lack
14of markets for CRT glass and the high cost associated with
15existing markets; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Kuusakoski Glass Recycling LLC (Kuusakoski
17Recycling) and Peoria Disposal Company (PDC), both
18Illinois-based businesses, developed and permitted a CRT glass
19solution, the KleanKover Recycling Solution, whereby CRT glass
20is treated to reduce the leachable lead levels in the glass
21(the principal environmental concern associated with CRTs)
22below stringent federal thresholds, and is then placed as

 

 

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1Alternative Daily Cover (ADC) in a permitted landfill; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Kuusakoski Recycling and PDC have successfully
3operated the KleanKover Recycling Solution since November,
42013; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Given the lack of viable recycling markets, the
6IEPA has determined that treated CRT glass used as ADC can be
7counted towards manufacturer recycling goals under the
8Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act, as documented in
9IEPA correspondence to Kuusakoski Recycling on November 26,
102013; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Basel Action Network (BAN), administrators of the
12e-Stewards Standard (a voluntary certification standard for
13electronic waste recyclers) had previously defined any use of
14treated CRT glass within a disposal facility, including use as
15ADC, as a "last resort" option, effectively prohibiting use of
16the KleanKover Recycling Solution; and
 
17    WHEREAS, BAN had expressed interest in considering
18retrievable storage of CRT glass in permitted, monitored, and
19contained designated disposal sites as a preferred CRT glass
20management method; and
 
21    WHEREAS, In response to BAN's interest, PDC developed a

 

 

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1designated retrievable storage cell at its permitted Indian
2Creek Landfill No. 2 to provide storage and future retrieval of
3CRT glass, should markets develop to utilize the leaded glass;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, PDC has established a perpetual care fund for
6Indian Creek Landfill No. 2, consisting of a trust fund held by
7a third-party and available to Tazewell County (the host
8jurisdiction for the landfill), which provides funding to
9monitor and maintain the landfill in perpetuity, imparting a
10greater level of financial and environmental protection than is
11required under state or federal laws or regulations; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Kuusakoski Recycling and PDC formally petitioned
13BAN on November 18, 2014, to modify the e-Stewards Standard and
14allow, as an additional preferred CRT glass management option,
15the placement of treated CRT glass in a retrievable storage
16cell within a permitted disposal site which has a perpetual
17care fund established; and
 
18    WHEREAS, At least 10 units of local government in Illinois,
19representing nearly four million people, sent letters to BAN in
20support of the petition submitted by Kuusakoski Recycling and
21PDC, and urging BAN's approval in order to maintain the
22governmental units' vital electronic waste collection and
23recycling programs for their residents; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, On March 26, 2015, the Senate of the 99th General
2Assembly of the State of Illinois adopted Senate Resolution 184
3urging BAN to approve the petition submitted by Kuusakoski
4Recycling and PDC and revise the e-Stewards Standard to allow
5placement of treated CRT glass into a dedicated retrievable
6storage cell at a permitted disposal facility; and
 
7    WHEREAS, On July 10, 2015, Public Act 99-13 amended the
8Electronics Products Recycling and Reuse Act to allow CRT glass
9placed in retrievable storage cells at permitted landfills to
10be counted towards manufacturer recycling goals; and
 
11    WHEREAS, BAN published Sanctioned Interpretation #5 to the
12e-Stewards Standard V2.0 on April 1, 2016, recognizing
13placement of treated CRT glass in lined, leachate-controlled,
14and monitored solid waste landfills as a conditionally
15allowable option for the management of CRT glass if all
16preferred options have been ruled out based on established
17criteria without requirement for further BAN approval; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Sustainable Electronics Recycling International
19(SERI), administrators of the R2 Standard (a separate voluntary
20certification standard for electronic waste recyclers) has
21prohibited its certified recyclers from managing CRT glass in
22any form within a landfill, including as ADC or in retrievable

 

 

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1storage; and
 
2    WHEREAS, At least 15 units of local government in Illinois,
3representing over five million people, some of which
4governmental units maintain among the most effective e-waste
5recycling programs in the United States, petitioned SERI in
62014, to reconsider its position on CRT glass management,
7citing the need for additional CRT glass management options in
8the United States; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In June of 2016, representatives of SERI and the
10R2 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC; a multi-stakeholder
11group appointed by SERI to review and recommend revisions to
12the R2 Standard) toured the Kuusakoski Recycling and PDC
13facilities and received additional information about their CRT
14glass management process; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In September of 2016, Kuusakoski Recycling and PDC
16announced a further enhancement to their CRT glass management
17process which will segregate panel glass (which does not
18include concentrations of hazardous materials in regulated
19quantities) from leaded funnel glass; this enhancement will
20permit Kuusakoski Recycling and PDC to utilize crushed panel
21glass as construction aggregate at permitted landfills as a
22replacement for washed gravel in the construction of leachate
23recirculation wells and potentially landfill gas wells, while

 

 

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1continuing to treat leaded funnel glass and place it in
2retrievable storage or utilize it as ADC at permitted
3landfills; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The option of beneficial use of CRT panel glass as
5construction aggregate, beneficial use of treated CRT glass as
6ADC, and placement of treated CRT glass in retrievable storage
7in a dedicated cell at a permitted disposal site provides
8needed environmentally protective, cost effective, and
9immediately available capacity for CRT glass, resulting in
10relief for residents, local governments, and recyclers across
11Illinois and the United States to manage this problematic
12material and reduce the potential for future discoveries of
13stockpiled material that would pose a significant
14environmental threat; therefore, be it
 
15    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL
16ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge SERI
17(Sustainable Electronics Recycling International) and the TAC
18(the R2 Technical Advisory Committee) to amend the R2 Standard
19to create an option for management of CRT glass through
20beneficial use, including in uses such as landfill construction
21aggregate and ADC, and placement of treated CRT glass into a
22dedicated retrievable storage cell in a permitted disposal
23facility; and be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
2delivered to the executive director, R2 technical director, and
3the chair of the Board of Directors of SERI (Sustainable
4Electronics Recycling International).