| By strategically reviewing the questions below, you | | | | Whether these type situations are part of your ERM, |
| can prepare to save money and reduce your ewaste | | | | risk management, contingency planning, budgeting, or |
| - reducing an enterprise risk management risk while | | | | strategic planning process; consider looking at these |
| obtaining the public relations and brand building value | | | | strategic questions that the green world will bring to |
| demonstrating your renewable energy credentials. | | | | the industries in these consumer electronics supply |
| Present US regulations encourage business to ship old | | | | chains. |
| or put of date consumer products like computers and | | | | What level do you project the new ewaste taxes to |
| televisions to non OSHA countries for recycling. | | | | increase to for the product you are part of the |
| Newer regulations classify some of these formerly | | | | supply chain for? |
| complaint components as ewaste, when they are | | | | Depending upon your industry, how dramatic an |
| recycled or disposed of in the future. | | | | increase do you anticipate for your portion of that |
| A fuller definition from Wikipedia is that ewaste is | | | | end product? |
| also described as electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, | | | | Depending upon your industry, what reputation risk |
| or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): | | | | will your brand be exposed to when information on |
| a loose category of surplus, obsolete, broken, or | | | | your level of ewaste becomes transparent to green |
| discarded electrical or electronic devices. The | | | | advocates? |
| processing of electronic waste in developing countries | | | | How can you re-engineer your manufacturing process |
| causes serious health and pollution problems due to | | | | to less hazardous materials at limited net cost |
| lack of containment, as do unprotected land filling | | | | increase, possibly a targeted no net cost increase, or |
| (due to leaching) and incineration. | | | | on a longer term basis to an even lower cost? |
| In the short term, electronics devices, particularly | | | | How can you do this in a way to create a carbon |
| computers, are being rapidly upgraded to decrease | | | | credit or reduce the carbon tax you will be charged |
| energy consumptions and benefit from newer | | | | under proposed cap and trade tax proposals? |
| technologies. Future regulations appear likely to | | | | What are the potential financial benefits from this |
| require that either the manufacturer or the retailer | | | | process? |
| will be charged a tax collected at sale to pay for | | | | Add the steps which this process has triggered for |
| recycling these devices when they are disposed of at | | | | your situation. |
| some future date. Depending on how the tax is tired | | | | With these notes in hand: |
| and how significant the tax rate, this can make a | | | | What is the first action you will take? |
| major impact on how much of this tax can be | | | | When will you start the process? |
| passed on to the consumer. | | | | How soon will the process be completed? |
| Some companies will see this as an opportunity to | | | | How will you manage the process? |
| get in front of the curve, rather than being | | | | How will you know you have succeeded? |
| supposedly blindside when the regulations are finalized. | | | | |