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E-Waste Meeting Ends Without Final Agreement

Author: Environment News Service Provider: SustainableBusiness.com News PORTLAND, Oregon, February 16, 2004 (ENS) – Three years of negotiations by industry, government and environmental stakeholders ended last week without final agreement on how to solve the nation's growing e-waste crisis. Stakeholders had come together in a last-ditch attempt to frame a nation-wide policy to pay for cleaning up the growing crisis of toxic computer and TV wastes. The participants, who have been meeting for over three years as the National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI), failed to reach a consensus financing agreement for a final proposal to Congress. "Industry still has not been able to come up with a financing policy that works," said Ted Smith of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an environmental group prominent in the debate over solutions to electronics waste. "For three years, IBM and several TV manufacturers have lobbied for a skimpy recycling fee, which would pass on most costs to local governments. Now, late in the game, electronics companies have finally come up with a new vague outline that would allow some companies to take responsibility for their own products rather than charge consumers an extra fee." Local solid waste officials will be swamped by […]

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Konarka Technologies Receives $6 Million Award to Develop New PV Cell Materials

Author: Konarka Press Release Provider: SustainableBusiness.com Potential Military Applications to Include Solar-Powered Sensor Networks and Remote Power for Soldiers and Unmanned Vehicles Lowell, MA – February 17, 2004 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in developing and manufacturing breakthrough products that convert light to energy, announced that it has been selected by The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to receive a contract in excess of $6 million for basic research in developing new materials for hybrid photovoltaic cells. Konarka will lead a consortium of academic and national laboratories to develop new materials for hybrid photovoltaics. Konarka will manage the contract and will share the award over five years with research and development partners including: Arizona State University; National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); University of Delaware; University of Massachusetts, Lowell; and U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, MA. DARPA is the central research and development organization for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). It manages and directs selected basic and applied research and development projects. DARPA is particularly interested in photovoltaic applications that may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions. Potential military applications for hybrid photovoltaic cells include battery charging on the battlefield, remote power for […]

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