Winds of change.

The electronics recycling industry continues to evolve, adapting to challenging market conditions. The federal legislature has yet to adopt comprehensive legislation governing the disposal of obsolete electronics, so state legislatures continue to address this issue. Maine and Washington are among the states most recently joining California in adopting legislation addressing end-of-life electronics. The variety of state laws could prove challenging for electronics recyclers with national footprints. But that's only one challenge the industry is facing.

Peter Muscanelli, president of the International Association of Electronics Recyclers (IAER),bemoaned the public's overall low opinion of the electronics recycling industry in his presentation at the Electronics Recycling Summit, saying, "We are not looked at as being credible; we are looked at as being the bottom of the food chain."

However, IAER and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) are taking steps to improve the industry's image by promoting the use of best practices. ISRI's Electronics Recycling Council has recently developed operating guidelines, available at www.isri.org/ electronics, for electronics recyclers.

ISRI and IAER also have introduced third-party certification programs, though it remains to be seen to what extent electronics recyclers' potential customers will deem such certifications necessary, as certification can increase costs for recyclers and their customers.

Consumers of electronic goods are also becoming increasingly aware of another danger inherent in improperly disposing of electronic devices with hard drives: the potential for data theft.

As data security emerges as a concern, particularly among corporate clients, it will be interesting to see how reuse markets will be affected.