About Theo Eggermont
Theo is social scientist and a generalist with a strong interest in organizations focused on the triple bottom line and UN Sustainable development goals. He is well versed in decision-making, communications, and consumer behavior. His strengths lie in relationship building, problem finding, and is currently working on building strong teams which aim to move Washtenaw County closer to zero waste.
Theo believes that by rebuilding community, we can find solutions to many of our environmental problems. His passion for art, education, and sustainability have led him to take a position on the board of the Michigan Folk School where he focuses on fundraising and development.
Resources
Washtenaw County Electronics Recycling
A2ZERO Electronics Collections
Transcription
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and today, we're going to look at electronic waste. I'm David Fair, and this is Issues of the Environment. Electronic devices are ubiquitous in our lives, and all of them have a shelf life. Now, the choices we make about what to do with our outdated or dying electronics can have an impact on the overall health of our environment. The three R's in environmental health are "reduce, reuse, and recycle." Reuse and recycle definitely apply when it comes to e-waste, but honestly, as we continue to add electronics to our everyday lives, I'm not sure if the reduce part of that equation works. Well, we're going to find out and cover all of it with our guest today. Theo Eggermont is Public Works Director in Washtenaw County, and welcome back to WEMU, Theo!
Theo Eggermont: Thanks for having me on, David!
David Fair: How much electronic waste are we actually generating every year in Washtenaw County? Is there a way to figure a number out on that?
Theo Eggermont: Well, the data that we have is we have our electronics collection events that we host--our county cleanup days. And we've actually seen a slight decrease in the amount of pounds of material that we take in at those events. So, I think part of that is there's other municipalities that are starting to collect materials as well.
David Fair: And that's good!
Theo Eggermont: Yes, it's great! And people are starting take it to other locations besides our events because there's more businesses that are stepping up and making it convenient. And I think, at our events, we also collect CRTs, those large tube TVs that people would bring in, and I think we're starting to see less and less of those.
David Fair: Because they don't exist anymore, right?
Theo Eggermont: Yes, So, the new TVs, even though they may be larger, weigh less, and there's less material in TVs and electronics.
David Fair: Are people still getting rid of these things, just kind of hiding them in the garbage and hoping they make it to the landfill?
Theo Eggermont: I certainly anticipate or expect that some people are doing that. There is not a law in Michigan that you cannot do that, but there's material in those devices that can be recovered, and those materials are hazardous. So, we don't want them going into the garbage. So, there's a very good case for not putting those things in the trash. But unfortunately, Michigan does not have a landfill ban on electronics.
David Fair: I mentioned the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle. I suppose, as technology advances, that there is longer life in the electronic equipment that populates our houses and businesses, but my impression is we're not reducing the amount of electronics in our lives and won't be moving forward. So, am I on track with that line of thought?
Theo Eggermont: Yeah, I certainly agree with that. We're seeing a proliferation of devices. And as I mentioned, fortunately, the material required in those devices is often getting smaller. But we want to really encourage people who are upgrading a device, if their existing device is still useful and could be used by someone else, to donate that, give it back to a take-back program, sell it if they can, removing their personal data from it before they do those kind of things.
David Fair: Is there a methodology we can apply under the category of "reduce" when it comes to the items that will one day become e-waste?
Theo Eggermont: I think the biggest thing they recommend is thinking about: Do you need that device? Is it something that could be shared? Is it's something that can be rented before purchasing new? And a great ethos to take on is before you buy something, think about the end of life of that material of do you know how you can respectively get rid of that material at the end if it's a useful life. And that often is something that people don't think about.
David Fair: Our Issues of the Environment conversation with Theo Eggermont continues on 89.1 WEMU. He is Public Works Director in Washtenaw County. And let's talk about reuse and recycle. There's a big market for reusing some of the items we choose to dispose of. And just thinking of the phones, there's a huge market for refurbished cell phones. I assume there is the same for many of the laptops and computers that we're using. Is reuse a big enough part to consider it a component of solution?
Theo Eggermont: I think it needs to be a part of the equation. I think there's certainly people that will always buy new or want to buy new. But ,at least from the products that I've seen that I bought use, the quality is very good and the refurbishing process is good. And there's many places that have standards that bring them up to a very high quality level. So, I don't have any stats on how effective that is or what percentage of material is able to be diverted. But I do see it a fair amount, and I'm happy that's a part of our material stream.
David Fair: And of course, recycling is the biggest component, and I know in the City of Ann Arbor, it has a partnership with a company called Comprenew. How is that working? Do you have some insight on that?
Theo Eggermont: That's a new program that they're launching through the Office of Sustainability, so I'm excited to see that. We'll be monitoring that to find out if that's effective, but I think they're making it more accessible than many events that have happened in the past. So, I am excited to see how that goes.
David Fair: And of course, these electronics are all made of materials that can be harmful to our land and to our water. What are the impacts of improperly disposed-of e-waste?
Theo Eggermont: Yeah. So, it depends on how those are improperly disposed, but if people are putting them in the landfill, for example, or in the trash, and then it goes to a landfill, the leachate can actually dissolve some of those materials. And there is leachates processing, so it does go through processes. But to my knowledge, some of those materials aren't able to be captured as a part of that process. So, you definitely don't want those materials going to landfills. There is some possibility it can enter into our environment. We don't have heavy metals in our water. Same thing if you were to throw a cell phone out the window, for example, eventually that's going to break down, get busted up, and those materials are going to be released into the environment where they can impact both the environment and human health.
David Fair: Once again, this is Issues of the Environment on WEMU, and we're talking electronic recycling and environmental health with Washtenaw County Public Works Director Theo Eggermont. Does proper handling of our personal electronics play into state, county and city goals for carbon neutrality as well?
Theo Eggermont: Yeah. So, I mean, thinking about what we're doing when we're recycling materials, we're reclaiming those materials, and we don't want to have to mine new materials. And I think that's the thing that people often don't think about is some of these are precious metals, they're rare. Other ones are common, thinking of like copper, but they're so prevalent that we have to mine new places to get that material. And so, what we're doing by recycling is preventing the need for finding new locations to mine that material, which, of course, has its own environmental impacts.
David Fair: AI--it's becoming big business, and there are a number of proposed computing facilities and data centers planned for our area. AI is also going to become a greater part of our home and small business lives. Are there strategies being developed to accommodate the e-waste changes that that could bring to us?
Theo Eggermont: Yeah. With the data center that's been proposed in Saline Township, I actually met with Beth Gibbons a couple of weeks ago to talk about, is there a way that we can put that as a part of the proposal, so that there is a mechanism where that material and similar materials that would be needed for like solar panel recovery since that's not very widely available, it's hard to get rid of, and it's going to be a continuing, emerging stream of material that's going need to be collected or recycled. So, there's some initial discussion there.
David Fair: And does it ultimately fall to corporate responsibility, or is this something that we need to legislatively determine for these big businesses?
Theo Eggermont: I think, with much of this, it depends on if there's a market for it. So, if there is a material stream like solar panels, for example, or batteries, where the material is valuable, then the open market's going to step in and capture that value. There has to be enough of that material, and I think we're getting on the cusp of where there's going to be sufficient material for that market to develop if the materials are valuable. If there's not value in those materials, then it's something that should be legislated around.
David Fair: Well, to bring it all back into our homes and in our community, are there some upcoming drop-off events throughout 2026 that can help us safely get rid of all our batteries, computers, gaming consoles, tablets, cell phones, routers, modems, and wires, all of the stuff that would be collected at an e-waste event?
Theo Eggermont: Yeah. So, for something that's simple, like batteries, we take those that are household hazardous waste to collection centers. So, we've got the HHW center in Salem Township and here at Zeeb Road in Scio Township, so those are available. There's several events on Saturdays at the HHW center, and I recommend people go online to make an appointment there. And then also, our county cleanup days, so we got four events in 2026, and that has been posted on our website. So, you can just search on the internet: "Washtenaw County cleanup days." It should bring you to a page. And then, as you mentioned, Ann Arbor is going to be having several events. Some of them are where you make an appointment and drop materials off. For others, there's less that can be collected, but it's wider availability. So, check out Ann Arbor's page if you're an Ann Arbor resident. And then also, there's a number of businesses that take materials throughout the year. And if you go to our Washtenaw County page at washtenaw.org/electronics, it'll give you some locations of businesses that accept materials: Best Buy, Staples, the Recycle Ann Arbor drop-off center. And so, it's widely available. Many of them are for free, so I'd check out their websites because then you're bringing it back to the manufacturer, so that they're paying for the material that they produced, as opposed to the local governments picking up the tab.
David Fair: Well, thank you so much for the time and the information, Theo! I will look forward to our next conversation!
Theo Eggermont: Thank you! Me too!
David Fair: That is Theo Eggermont. He is Public Works Director in Washtenaw County and our guest on Issues of the Environment. It's produced in partnership with the Office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner. And for more information, you can pay a visit to our website at WEMU.org. We'll get you all linked up. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM, Ypsilanti.
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