By MARK DEVOLDER
Los Alamos

Electrical and electronics items are typically discarded at the Los Alamos Eco Station. A variety of items are discarded in an open bin located on the west side of the transfer station. Light bulbs are also discarded on the west side of the transfer station. Items such as batteries, power packs, etc. are placed in a plastic roll-top container (with secondary containment for spills).

Televisions are discarded in the same general area. Some items appear on shelves in the Reuse Area. I have a number of concerns about the electrical and electronics discard effort at the Eco Station as a result of developing a rudimentary hazard analysis.

My biggest concern is with stored-energy devices. One example is large capacitors. There are no controls to ensure that capacitors are properly discharged and/or provided with a shorting wire/bar. Another example is “sealed” lead-acid batteries enclosed in battery chargers and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS’s) for computers. If a lead-acid storage battery is discharged and kept in a cold location, the battery may freeze. If a battery freezes and later thaws out, it may result in a weak sulfuric acid spilling at home, in a vehicle, or the Eco Station. Mechanical damage to an item (for example, running over an item with an automobile) could also lead to a sulfuric acid leak. A third example is battery- operated tools. (Note: When handling lead-acid batteries or electrical or electronics equipment containing sulfuric acid, it would be helpful to know that there is a safety shower/eyewash capability available.)

Another concern is electronic toys. Some toys contain rechargeable batteries (that is, nickel-cadmium/NiCd batteries or nickel-metal hydride/NiMH batteries). Some toys are provided with alkaline batteries. If batteries are left in electronic toys and portable electronics equipment, the battery casings can degrade over time and corrode internal surfaces on toys and other electronics equipment.

Toys, like other electronics items, also contain printed circuit boards with lead solder, toxic semiconductor materials, and possibly bromine-based fire-retardant materials. If printed circuit boards are burned, it can degrade air quality. If printed circuit boards are buried in landfills, there can be long-term leaching of lead, semiconductor chemicals and/or bromine-based fire-retardant chemicals into underground aquifers. The lead and chemicals can degrade water quality and result in adverse health effects. There is a curious absence of electronic toys at the Eco Station. That could mean that electronic toys are being donated to thrift stores, donated at the Big Brothers Bins, or discarded as trash. I have seen any number of radio-controlled (RC) cars and trucks at thrift stores “without” the associated control units. What good is that?    When the RC items were new, you can bet that the manufacturer went to the trouble of providing the vehicle along with a control unit, a nice package, and operating instructions.

Currently, electrical and electronics items are discarded in a shallow metal electronics bin. There is no cover over the bin to exclude rain or snow. There are several problems with the bin configuration. Power cords, cables, wire, other conductors, and small power supplies show up as tangled masses. Electrical and electronics items (for example, computers, power supplies, rack-mounted equipment, and stereo equipment) often have power cords. I can only imagine that Eco Station personnel must have a difficult time separating tangled items so that they can be sent for recycling.

If it rains or snows, then various power cords and partially- or fully energized equipment may be sitting in a metal bin containing water.  This does not appear to be a safe situation. (Note: If you own a hair dryer, you are probably aware that it should not be used around a sink or a bathtub full of water.) I do not believe there is any electrical grounding cable on the bin. If the electrical or electronics equipment is heavy, it could crush other items in the electronics bin. For example, a large/heavy power supply could crush a rechargeable battery casing.  This could potentially cause arcing or a fire if the rechargeable battery is still energized. Sometimes things like coffee makers might be discarded. This means there may be broken glass from a coffee pot in with the discarded items.

Due to the existence of LANL and associated salvage operations over many decades, there may be a variety of rack-mounted equipment and some peculiar scientific research equipment, which eventually ends up at the Eco Station. Such equipment is unlikely to have a pedigree (for example, operating/maintenance/parts manuals, condition/maintenance assessments, status of energized components, labeling, appropriate packaging, circuit diagrams for LANL-created research equipment, etc.). There may be other hazards present in electrical and electronics equipment, too (for example, spring-loaded, pressurized, defective, leaking equipment). It may be unknown if any of the equipment contains polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs. It disturbs me to think that something like blasting caps, detonators, or explosive bolts may show up in the electronics bin (that is, some kind of cylindrical object with wires coming out of it). I once found what turned out to be a firework item in one of the boxes at the Reuse Area.

You have to admire the folks at the Eco Station for carefully and safely dealing with the discards from Los Alamos County residents.

Recommendations:

1. Work on improving the knowledge and capability of Los Alamos County residents. It does not help if residents do not have any knowledge about what they are discarding. It does not help if residents have a dump-and-run attitude instead of handling electrical and electronics items in a safe manner. Retiring equipment is just as important as purchasing new equipment. (Note: Many Los Alamos County residents are aware of child safety issues when it comes to electricity. For example, some folks may procure plastic inserts for 110 VAC electrical receptacles to keep toddlers from getting an electrical shock. Is it too much to ask to do something similar when it comes to electrical and electronic equipment? We live in a Free Country, but there is responsibility which goes with that freedom. It is called Duty of Care.)
2. It is a good practice to hold on to operating/maintenance/parts manuals for electrical and electronics equipment. It might be helpful if such documentation was discarded along with a particular item at the end of the item’s service life.
3. It is a good practice to remove alkaline and rechargeable batteries from electronic toys and portable electronics equipment prior to sending the items to the Eco Station. Alkaline batteries may be discarded as ordinary trash. Rechargeable batteries/power packs (separated from electrical and electronics equipment) need to go to the Eco Station so that they can be safely recycled.
4. It is a good practice and a courtesy to neatly wrap-up electrical cables/cords on electrical or electronics equipment so that the cords do not get tangled up with other equipment. (Note: When electrical and electronics equipment is new, power cords typically have some kind of plastic or wire tie to hold things in a neat configuration for consumers.)
5. It would be helpful if electronics equipment containing batteries or battery-operated tools are discarded safely. An effort needs to be made to separate items so that they are not crushed by heavy items. Perhaps some covered shelves or covered bins are needed for electrical and electronics equipment similar to what is available in the Reuse Area at the Eco Station. Some thought needs to go into how to effectively provide electrical grounding of metal shelves or metal bins at the Eco Station to prevent arcing, a fire, or human contact with partially- or fully energized electrical or electronics equipment. Maybe there needs to be a separate shelf or bin for cables and power cords.
6. Signs are needed which clearly state where specific electrical and electronics items need to be discarded.
7. A safety shower or portable eyewash station may be a good addition to the electrical and electronics discard area if there is a potential for Eco Station patrons and workers to be exposed to sulfuric acid in lead-acid batteries.