Dive Brief:
- With the market for recycled CRTs shrinking, Kuusakoski Recycling has created a new and controversial method of disposal that uses treated CRT glass as "alternative daily cover" in landfills. The subcontractor handles collection for the state's free "e-cycles" program, and is now awaiting the results of an audit that will determine if it maintains its required environmental certification.
- Vermont requires all e-waste contractors to be certified in order to dispose of CRTs, which are becoming increasingly less commercial. e-Stewards, which administers the company's certification, stated that Kuusakoski's use of CRTs is only acceptable as a "last resort" as it is not strictly recycling.
- In order to be recertified, Kuusakoski will have to prove that the treated glass meets EPA standards for lead leachate and that it has exhausted domestic alternatives for recycling CRTs.
Dive Insight:
Certification company R2 Solutions recently banned the landfill practice of using crushed CRTs as alternative daily cover in landfills, leaving leaves e-Stewards to approve the CRT waste disposal methods for Kuusakoski Recycling. According to Vermont Digger, the vice president of original contractor Casella said that if Kuusakoski loses its certification it would be disqualified as a subcontractor, forcing Casella to find a company who could "meet the expectations of the state of Vermont."
