Sims new high-tech 100,000 mt per year electronics recycling facility opens in Ontario

Located in Mississauga, Sims Recycling Solutions Canada's new e-waste recycling facility boasts a receiving capacity of 100,000 metric tons (mt) per year and, according to Sims, is home to the most advanced technology that the company has to offer for the recycling of end-of-life electronics.  

As of January, 2011, according to Cindy Coutts, President of Sims Recycling Solutions Canada, the project is up and running, the technology is working as planned, and everything is on schedule.  

“We will have an official ceremony with the Minister of the Environment in Ontario, and this will launch the technology to customers, clients, press, regulators and politicians," said Coutts. "We’re very excited to be able to showcase our investment in green technology.”  

On February 9th, 2011, Provincial and municipal dignitaries, along with Sims Recycling Solutions executives are set to "flip the switch" to mark the opening of the 287,000 sq.ft. facility, and celebrate new green investment and jobs being created in Ontario.  

In attendance at the opening ceremony; John Wilkinson, Ontario Minister of Environment; Amrit Mangat, MPP, Mississauga-Brampton South; Beatrice Olivastri, Executive Director - Friends of the Earth Canada; Graham Davy, CEO, Sims Recycling Solutions; Steve Skurnac, President, Americas Sims Recycling Solutions; and Cindy Coutts, President, Sims Recycling Solutions Canada.  

According to Sims, the three-phase project includes a fully mechanized cathode ray tube (CRT) recycling process (phase 1) which yields commodity grades of leaded and non-leaded glass from monitors and televisions, as well as advanced metals recycling technologies and the latest in plastic separation technology that will allow for closed-loop recycling of plastics.   

“Essentially, you can introduce a CRT device like a television or a computer monitor in at the front end, and what comes out are various clean commodities such as plastic, leaded and non-leaded glass, metals, and steel separated from aluminum,” explains Coutts.  

The CRT line, Coutts says, is the end-result of work and technology from various manufacturers, including technology developed in-house by Sims. As for collection of e-waste materials, it comes from a number of different routes.

“There are new programs for WEEE (waste electronic and electrical equipment) stewardship across Canada, operating in B.C., Saskatchewan, Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and all of these programs currently ship WEEE material into our site,” explains Coutts.   

“We also source material directly from manufacturers and businesses who feel more comfortable dealing with a site that has exemplary environmental standards and a higher recycling rate. And we draw material from the Northeast U.S.”  

Certification in place
“We are R2 certified in Canada,” explains Coutts. “And we’re also certified to the electronics recycling standard put together by Electronics Product Stewardship Canada (EPSC), which is probably the most stringent of any I’ve seen in the world. So, it’s exciting to be operating to that standard.  

“Our challenge is to make sure we’re continually auditing to the standard,” continues Coutts. “I think Canada and the EPSC should be congratulated on setting such a high standard. Phase two for them is to make sure they are auditing very, very rigorously.  

“As far as collection targets, there are other jurisdictions that are ahead of Ontario, Canada as a whole, based on the number of kilos collected per person. But our programs are relatively young, and I know we’ll catch up."  

“There have been some recent developments in Ontario that allow approved recyclers to go out and source material directly – more of a free-market approach – which is a very positive direction, and will result in higher collection rates," Coutts says.   

“The way it will work is that once a recycler is approved to the rigorous standards, there is an incentive payment from the program that will be paid for every ton of material collected, as opposed to the old allocation model, which  re-recycles investment, innovation and successful collection rates.

“Ontario has taken a very positive step towards a free-market approach.”   During the past five years, Sims Recycling Solutions Canada has recycled over 85 million pounds of electronic scrap in Ontario alone. In 2010, the company processed over 880 million pounds globally.   

Sims Metal Management was recently named (for the 2nd time) one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, at the 2010 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. http://www.simsrecycling.com www.global100.org