Lack of Standards Holds Back Green Tech

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At the CEA, there was no shortage of energy monitoring devices. ThinkECO's modlet adapter and supplementary software allows users to monitor energy use on a computer. APC's green surge protectors cut off power when the plugged in device is off. Panamax Furman's BlueBOLT management platform allows you to monitor and manage energy use from any internet-connected device.

Ferenbacher says that while a sizable group -- 40 percent -- of consumers considers the environment when buying new electronics, a majority still don't care.  All three members of the panel say this number would decrease if there was a simplified measure of savings shown for the general public.

"For the mainstream consumer, it has to make sense economically. Long term for consumers, this means they need to get years worth of use out of a device," in order to get the promised savings," she said. That means changing the way those savings are communicated, in order to show it does make economic sense.

The lack of unified standards in judging whether a device is environmentally conscious or not has not helped the situation. The closest to a unified standard is the Green Energy Council's EPEAT, which evaluates electronics on 51 separate criteria. There is also EnergyStar, but that is focused on energy use only, not the lifecycle of the device.

The copious amount of old electronics, which contain hazardous materials, has created a need for the recycling. But it is often difficult to tell just how much of a computer or phone is actually recycled.

"There are a lot of e-recyclers out there, which leads to a lot of confusion and too much information," O'Brien said. "We're on the verge of coming up with a more uniform way of addressing this, and ensuring the market remains responsible."

Frader-Thompson and Fehrenbacher agreed the lack of standards as well as economic incentives have held back e-recycling. "You need to make it economically appealing for consumers or you need to make it so dumb that anyone can figure out how to do it," Frader-Thompson said.

One of the companies looking to do this is 4^th Bin. The company offers a pick-up service for old electronics in New York City. To date, the company has collected over 35 tons of e-waste. "Because of the transportation issues in New York City, it's inconvenient and expensive for people to recycle their electronics," Michael Deutsch, chief operating officer at 4^th Bin, said. The company charges for picking up the electronics. 

Perhaps a signal that unified e-recycling standards are coming is the recent legislation in New York passed which will force manufacturers to offer free programs to enable people to recycle old electronics. New York became the 22^nd state to adapt this type of law.