Consumer electronics recycling on the up in the USA

United States – The Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘Advancing Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Facts and Figures’ report shows progress in the US consumer electronics recycling rate from 30.6% in 2012 to 40.4% the following year.

Through its sustainable materials management programme, the agency seeks to promote the most productive and sustainable use of materials across their life-cycle, minimising the amounts of materials involved and all associated environmental impacts.

The EPA notes that the G7 group of major advanced economies recently committed to ambitious action to advance the efficient use of natural resources throughout their life-cycle.

‘For the first time, the leaders of the G7 have officially recognised the importance of the link between materials recovery and the global economy, and established the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency,’ points out Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for the EPA’s office of solid waste and emergency response.

The alliance is intended to provide a forum to promote an exchange of concepts on how to address the challenges of resource efficiency, to share best practices and experience, and to create information networks.