Teck Cominco Q & A

…an edited version of an interview with Susan Knoerr, manager, technical and business development and David Goosen, business development superintendent, Teck Cominco, Trail.

1. Where did the idea of burning electronic waste come from?

David: In 2002, Joyce Murray was the BC environment Minister. She wanted to institute an end-of-life electronics program in B.C. funded by an 'advance recycle fee' built into the cost of the product.

2. Is B.C. the first province to consider advance recycling fees?

Susan: Alberta was the first with legislation in October 2004. Ontario is following suit, also Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, and now BC. Advance recycle fees are viewed by some as another government tax, so BC is insisting that the recycle fee be built into the cost of the product.

3. Do you need any special licenses to process e-waste?

David: Carl Johnson is our local Ministry of Environment representative and we worked with him to obtain approval to do pilot testing last year, using shredded Alberta material. The Ministry has now given us a one-year permit that starts in January 2006. We anticipate the permit will be extended, but the Ministry wants the data from a full 12 months operating period.

4. Why is Teck Cominco interested in this venture?

David: We were using an old slag-fuming furnace from our pre-Kivcet smelter to process a stockpile of old slag. This campaign was ending so the old furnace was redundant and due to be shut down. So it was available for this recycle project. The shredded recycle material can be blended with regular slag and the metals recovered as part of our normal process.

5. Are you doing the shredding as well?

David: We have contracted KC Recycling to do the shredding. The material will come as whole units, shrink wrapped on pallets: whole computers, whole TVs, which will be shredded to a size that can be fed into our furnace. KC Recycling is building the facility to do this at their battery recycle plant at Columbia Gardens. They should be operating by March, and in the meantime we will use shredded material from Alberta.

6. Are there large amounts of electronic material?

David: We expect to treat 3,000 tonnes of e-waste next year. Beyond that we hope to get up to our full capacity of around 20,000 tonnes per year.

7. What knowledge and skills are needed to do this work?

Susan: The technical expertise is embedded in the Teck Cominco personnel who run the slag furnace. Technical people provide support; Keith Klimchuk is our field engineer and, in Toronto, Brenda Tognotti is doing the marketing with the producers and the municipalities.

8. Until this new venture where did the material go?

David: Mostly to landfill, or exported to China and Asia. Electronics shouldn't go to landfill or our kids will be mining it down the road. We should be responsible. If you want to see what happens, go to   www.ban.org to see pictures of end-of-life electronics in Asia. Some material is high-graded - the higher value components are removed by hand for recycling - but this doesn't fix the major disposal problem.

9. Is the material easy to separate?

David: Not in the product form, that's why our process works so well. Everything is shredded and fed into the furnace. The combustible wood and plastic materials burn at high temperatures as fuel, generating heat that is recovered in steam boilers. The metals are recovered through the metallurgical processes in the furnace, and the residual material blends with the ferrous granules that are used in the manufacture of cement.

10. Is there anywhere else this is done?

David: Noranda has been processing high-grade material in Quebec. Boliden, a smelter in Sweden, has been doing what we are doing for four years. We have a good working relationship with them and share information and experience.

11. Could this venture happen anywhere else besides here?

David: You need the synergies of an integrated metallurgical operation. A new furnace would cost $75 million. Electronics recycling would never justify that capital. Our furnace was redundant, so why not use it to deal with this problem of e-waste and also provide another revenue stream for Trail. That furnace employs 20 people, and new jobs are created at KC Recycling. That is all good for the community.

12. What encouragement or support did you receive?

David: Minister Joyce Murray encouraged this initiative. Our corporate office was also very supportive of electronic recycling as a stewardship piece. And of course our local general manager, Mike Agg, has encouraged it. Our business development group is pushing valued-added products. This was something we could do to make some money even when metal prices are low.

13. Was there union support?

David: The union has been involved in this since day one. They were very encouraged because they saw e-recycling would save jobs.

14. Were there roadblocks that got in the way?

David: Buy-in from all the plants. Trail is a diverse and integrated operation; a change can affect plants downstream. You need to have buy-in from all the plants that might be affected.

15. What about the regulatory viewpoint?

David: The recycling fee has been an issue. Alberta said they were going to do it and they did it. B.C. has been promising it for over two years and they still haven't done it. Meanwhile we have been doing our part with the expectation that the fee system would be in place.

Susan: With any new initiative the regulators are always very cautious and require extraordinary levels of performance beyond what are required elsewhere. In order to be viable the process must be economically competitive as well as environmentally sound.

16. Does the community understand this new enterprise?

Susan: We've had some articles in the paper, but until we establish this on a commercial basis I don't think the awareness will be there.

David: We were hoping to have a "local round up" where people could bring their old computers and TVs; but that would require the advance recycle fee to be in place. So we are waiting for the government to get this fee system going. We'll be using the Alberta material for the first quarter, then hopefully can do a round up in the spring.

17. So there is still no recycle fee in B.C.?

Susan: Not yet. The program would require the producers to provide money to a government account or some agency to provide for end-of-life disposal. This money will then be distributed to the various people involved in the disposal chain: the collection, the transportation, the shredding, and the final processing here. That's what the B.C. government is working on.

18. Are there examples where the recycle fee is in place and working?

Susan: Europe is way ahead of us on this with an advanced system where they collect very close to home. The producers pay a fee for anything they sell. The importers and the producers have an auditing process throughout the whole cycle. Everyone knows what has to be done in the cycle and nothing goes to the landfill.

David: Electronics Product Stewardship Canada (EPSC) went to Europe to see what happens there and they are promoting similar programs for Canada.

19. Are there key lessons you have learned through this experience?

Susan: Don't give up! When you believe in something and it has merit you just have to keep pushing for change. That's what our job is in business development. It's creating new businesses that help Trail's profitability. It takes a lot of time and effort to make that happen.