Code of Maine Rules › 06 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 096 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION - GENERAL › Chapter 415 - REASONABLE COSTS FOR HANDLING, TRANSPORTATION, AND RECYCLING OF ELECTRONIC WASTES › Appendix 096-415-A - Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
Guidelines for the Environmentally Sound Management of
				  Electronic Waste
Pursuant to
				  38 M.R.S.
				  §1610(5)(C), the Maine
				  Department of Environmental Protection (the Department) has developed the
				  following guidelines for recycling and dismantling facilities engaged in the
				  handling, processing, refurbishment and recycling of covered electronic devices
				  from covered entities as these terms are defined in this Chapter. These
				  guidelines provide a framework for environmentally sound management of these
				  wastes. Consolidators operating in Maine may not transport covered electronic
				  devices to a recycling or dismantling facility unless the facility has provided
				  a sworn certification to the consolidator that the facility substantially meets
				  these guidelines, or the facility has a current R2 or e-Stewards
				  certification.
1. The facility must comply with federal, state and local
				  laws and regulations, specifically as relating to the handling, processing,
				  refurbishment and recycling of covered electronic devices, and must possess
				  proper authorization by all appropriate governing authorities to perform such
				  handling, processing, refurbishment and recycling.
2. The facility must implement appropriate measures to
				  safeguard occupational and environmental health and safety, through the
				  following:
a. Environmental health & safety (EH& S;) training
				  of personnel, including training with regard to material and equipment
				  handling, worker exposure to hazardous materials, controlling releases of
				  pollutants, and safety and emergency procedures;
b. An up-to-date, written hazardous materials identification
				  and management plan;
c. An up-to-date, written plan for reporting and responding
				  to pollutant releases, including emergencies such as accidents, spills, fires,
				  and explosions;
d. Maintenance of Commercial General Liability Insurance or
				  equivalent corporate guarantee for accidents and other emergencies with limits
				  of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate.
				  Additionally, maintenance of Pollution Legal Liability Insurance with a limit
				  of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence for companies engaged solely in
				  dismantling activities and $5,000,000 per occurrence for companies engaged in
				  processing of recyclable materials;
e. Documentation that an EH& S; audit is completed and
				  certified by a competent internal or external auditor on a periodic basis
				  (generally annually). A competent auditor is an individual who through
				  professional training and/or work experience is appropriately qualified to
				  evaluate the EH& S; conditions, practices, and procedures at the facility.
				  Documentation of the auditor's qualifications must be available for inspection
				  by government officials and third party auditors; and
f. The facility must maintain on file proof of procurement
				  of workers' compensation/employers' liability insurance.
3. The facility must have adequate financial assurance (e.g.
				  bonds, corporate guarantee) to cover environmental and other costs of the
				  closure of its facility, including the cleanup of stockpiled equipment and
				  materials.
4. The facility must apply due diligence principles to
				  selection of facilities to which components and materials (e.g. plastics,
				  metals, circuit boards, CRTs) from covered electronic devices are sent for
				  reuse and recycling.
5. The facility must establish a documented environmental
				  management system, appropriate in level of detail and documentation to the
				  scale and function of the facility, including documented regular self-audits
				  and/or inspections of its environmental compliance.
6. The facility must use appropriate equipment for proper
				  processing of incoming materials as well as controlling environmental releases.
				  The facility must manage all materials to minimize adverse exposures to workers
				  and releases to the environment. Dismantling operations and storage of
				  electronics or components of electronics that contain hazardous substances must
				  be conducted indoors over impervious floors. Storage areas must be adequate to
				  hold all processed and unprocessed inventory. When heat is used to soften
				  solder and when electronics or components thereof are shredded, operations must
				  be designed to control indoor and outdoor hazardous air emissions.
7. The facility must establish a system for identifying and
				  properly managing components that are removed from covered electronic devices
				  during disassembly and that, if waste, may be hazardous (e.g. circuit boards,
				  batteries, CRTs, mercury phosphor lamps, etc.). The facility must properly
				  manage all hazardous components and other components requiring special handling
				  from covered electronic devices in a manner consistent with relevant federal,
				  state, and local regulations. The facility must provide visible tracking (such
				  as hazardous waste manifests or Bills of Lading) of hazardous components and
				  materials from the facility to the destination facilities, and documentation
				  (such as contracts) stating how the destination facility processes materials
				  received. The facility must not send, either directly or through
				  intermediaries, hazardous wastes to solid waste (non-hazardous waste) landfills
				  or to non-hazardous waste incinerators for disposal or energy recovery. For the
				  purposes of these guidelines, smelting of hazardous wastes to recover metals
				  for reuse in conformance with all applicable laws and regulations is not
				  considered disposal or energy recovery.
8. The facility must use a regularly implemented and
				  documented monitoring and record keeping program that tracks inbound material
				  weights (total) and outbound material weights (total to each destination),
				  injury and illness rates, and compliance with applicable permit parameters
				  including monitoring of effluents and emissions. The facility must maintain
				  contracts or other documents, such as sales receipts, sufficient to
				  demonstrate: (a) a reasonable expectation that there is a downstream market or
				  use for designated electronics (such uses may include recycling and/or
				  reclamation processes such as smelting to recover metals for reuse); and (b)
				  that any residual materials from recycling and/or reclamation processes are
				  properly handled and managed to maximize reuse and recycling of materials to
				  the extent practicable.
On an annual basis, the facility must provide a statement to
				  consolidators operating in Maine that ship covered electronic devices to the
				  facility that includes a description of how the electronics are recycled, a
				  listing of facilities to which it ships materials for recycling, and the
				  following data:
* percentage of each covered electronic device type that is
				  sent for reuse;
* percentage of components recovered for reuse;
* percentage of materials recycled by type of
				  material;
* residual rates by material; and
* fate of materials not recycled.
The facility may calculate these numbers based on the total
				  electronic waste stream handled by the facility. The facility must maintain on
				  file these statements to consolidators for a minimum of 3 years for inspection
				  by government officials and relevant auditors.
9. The facility must comply with federal and international
				  law and agreements regarding the export of used products or materials. In the
				  case of export of televisions, computer monitors and CPUs, this includes
				  compliance with applicable requirements of the United States of America and of
				  the import and transit countries, and maintenance of proper business records
				  documenting such compliance. The facility agrees not to establish or utilize
				  intermediaries for the purpose of circumventing these U.S., import, and transit
				  country requirements.
For transactions that involve the transboundary shipment of
				  used televisions and computer monitors, the facility must conduct those
				  transactions based on contracts (or equivalent commercial arrangements) made in
				  advance that detail the quantity and nature of the materials to be shipped. For
				  the export of materials to a foreign country (directly or indirectly through
				  downstream market contractors):
* Shipment of intact televisions and computer monitors
				  destined for reuse must include only whole products, tested and certified as
				  being in working order or requiring only minor repair (e.g., not requiring
				  replacement of circuit boards or CRTs), that are destined for reuse with
				  respect to their original purpose, where the recipient has verified a market
				  for the sale or donation of such products for reuse; and
* Shipments of televisions and computer monitors for
				  materials recovery must be prepared in a manner appropriate for processing,
				  including smelting where metals will be recovered, plastics recovery, and
				  glass-to-glass recycling.
The facility must maintain the following export records on
				  file for a minimum of three years:
a. destinations (including facility name and address) to
				  which shipments are exported;
b. shipment contents and weights;
c. intended use of contents by the destination
				  facilities;
d. specifications required by the destination facilities in
				  relation to shipment contents; and
e. assurance that all shipments for export are legal and
				  satisfy all applicable laws in the destination countries.