PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Focus Materials, also referred to as FMs, is one of the foundational concepts of the entire R2 standard. Awareness and knowledge of focus materials is absolutely essential for any R2 certified facility. And focus materials themselves weave through many different aspects of the operation of a facility from their identification to the planning for their proper management by the R2 Facility and down the recycling chain until final disposition.  So what are focus materials, where can they be found, and when does the management and tracking of them stop? That’s the topic of this episode of Ask The R2 Guru. I’m Roger Greive, from SERI – Champions of Electronics Sustainability.

If you’re an established R2 facility transitioning to the R2V3 standard, you will already have a Focus Materials Management Plan, but there are some additional requirements and expectations for this plan under R2v3.  So, whether you are new to R2 or listening to this as a refresher, remember that the proper identification of all focus materials managed by the facility is the first step in determining any subsequent R2 processes and controls. And of course, any untested and non-functioning electronic equipment or components that contain any of the Focus Materials are themselves considered a Focus Material until those items are removed.  So, be sure your focus materials management plan also addresses FM containing devices and components.

Let’s begin with the definition of focus materials,  and this is directly out of the definitions section of the R2 standard. Here’s what it says: focus materials, also referred to as FMs, are materials in electronic equipment that warrant greater care during recycling, refurbishing, materials recovery, energy recovery, incineration and/or disposal due to their toxicity or other potential adverse health and safety impacts on workers, the public and the environment if the materials are managed without appropriate safeguards.

To ensure Focus Materials are managed with ‘greater care’ as indicated in the definition, Focus Materials and the Focus Materials Management Plan are addressed throughout the R2 standard.  However, the identification and initial planning for the proper processing of Focus Materials begins in Core Requirement 8.  Of course, it is also important to refer to the helpful chart in the definitions section that describes the focus materials and identifies when the downstream tracking of each ends. And while I will walk through each of the FMs shortly and highlight for you their final point of disposition, don’t forget a significant benefit in R2v3 is that an R2 Facility can stop its downstream tracking at the first R2v3 Certified downstream vendor.  This means that you may not always need to track to final disposition.

So let’s get to the list. There are five focus materials in the R2 Standard. The first is probably the least encountered by R2 facilities and that’s Polychlorinated Biphenyls or PCB’s. It’s a chemical compound found most commonly in liquid filled transformers, some capacitors and older fluorescent ballasts. We should also note here that some electronics manufacturers and governmental groups, especially outside the US use the term PCB for printed circuit boards and that’s a bit confusing but within the R2 standard PCB’s always mean polychlorinated biphenyls.

PCB’s must be directed to a government licensed or permitted hazardous waste landfill or a hazardous waste incinerator where their tracking ends.  But, PCBs are often highly regulated, so other legal requirements must also be considered.

This second FM on our list is mercury. This is a hazardous element even in extremely small quantities so it’s critical that facilities identify all potential sources of mercury.  And, suitable procedures must be in place to safely handle these items to prevent any damage or other release of mercury during handling, processing, storage or transportation.

Mercury vapor can typically be found in CCFL backlighting lamps which can be used in certain LCD flat screen technologies including TVs, monitors and laptop screens.  They can also be found in the lamps of multifunction printers, scanners and home theatre projectors.

Items containing mercury may be directed to a mercury retorter or a licensed or permitted hazardous waste storage facility, both of which are the final point of tracking for mercury.  However, it is important to note that the handling and disposition of mercury is often regulated.  In the United States, mercury and devices containing mercury are classified as universal waste.  So there may be specific additional regulatory requirements for the handling, storage, labelling and transport of these items.

Next on the list of FMs is glass from cathode ray tubes or CRTs. These tubes, which are found in older TV’s and computer monitors are the heavy picture tubes that contain lead, usually 5 to 8 pounds of lead per tube which is why the old TV’s are so heavy. Whole tubes and even the separated glass are considered an FM.  Only if the panel glass is separated from the leaded portion and cleaned may it be excluded from the focus material definition.

CRTs are generally both difficult and dangerous to disassemble, so most are sent whole to specialized downstream processors.  The tracking for CRT glass stops when the CRT glass has been processed for use in a new product with a known end use and an existing market, or when it’s received at a government licensed and permitted smelter.

Batteries are next on our list of focus materials, and along with circuit boards are some of the most common FMs that will be encountered by R2 facilities.  Of course, it is often easy to identify portable devices that contain batteries, but sometimes they are not designed to be user replaceable and can require some dismantling of the product to get to.  Also, some batteries, particularly lithium-ion technology, are very susceptible to damage resulting in sudden intense fires so extreme caution should be taken in managing those items.

In addition to batteries in portable devices, facilities also need to consider devices that may have back up or clock batteries.  These types of batteries are often small coin cell batteries and they can be found on computer motherboards and can also be found in devices like fax machines and multifunction printers.

Batteries can come in many different types or chemistries.  The Focus Material definition includes all battery types except for alkaline batteries that do not contain mercury.  But, this doesn’t mean that there are no R2 requirements for alkaline batteries.  Alkalines, like other non-FMs, must still be managed in accordance with the Hierarchy of Responsible Management Strategies, and must meet all legal requirements for their handling and disposition.

For all other battery types, they must be directed to a facility that processes and recovers metals from the batteries.  This materials recovery process is the final step in the recycling chain after which no further tracking is required.

The fifth and final type of focus material is also the most common —  circuit boards. Depending on the type of device, the size and number of circuit boards it contains varies significantly.  And, even beyond the device itself, accessories such as AC adapters and remote controls also contain a circuit boards to manage. Having a circuit board is a definition of an electronic device so it’s safe to assume that everything received by an R2 facility is either a battery or something that contains a circuit board. And since circuit boards are a focus material, that means that every device coming into an R2 facility is an R2 controlled stream until further processing.

Any type of circuit board whether it’s whole, partial or shredded is a focus material under the R2 standard.  This includes lead free circuit boards because although the boards themselves may not be considered hazardous, many improper processing methods for boards can be extremely hazardous.  By treating all circuit boards as focus materials, this ensures that they are processed for metals recovery through legal, safe and permitted operations, which is also the final step in tracking.

One more thing to mention before we wrap up… there’s often confusion on what the R2 standard means by de minimis amounts of focus materials. This is for electronic equipment, components or materials that have already undergone safe and effective mechanical processing to remove focus materials but still might have small amounts of FMs remaining. The usual example of this is a tiny fragment of a circuit board that might remain attached to another material after mechanical separation. De minimis does not mean small circuit boards such as those in a computer mouse or a remote control.

The concept of focus materials is at the heart of the R2 standard. One of the most important parts of being an R2 certified facility is knowing how to identify focus materials, and then plan for their safe and effective management.  It’s something that sets an R2 facility apart from others. For the safety of workers and the community, and for the preservation of our environment, it’s worth the effort.

As always, I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Ask The R2 Guru and found it helpful. Thanks to the SERI team for their assistance in producing this podcast series. If you have any questions or comments or want to suggest a topic for a future podcast please use the contact us form on the SERI website. You’ll find us at SustainableElectronics.org.