Archive for the ‘Poor Recycling’ Category
UN warns of e-waste spike in developing nations
March 2nd, 2010 | 
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Over the next decade, rapidly growing sales of consumer electronics in developing countries, such as China and India, will lead to “the spectre of hazardous e-waste mountains with serious consequences for the environment and public health,” according to a report released this week by The United Nations Environment Programme. The 120-page report, Recycling — From E-Waste To Resources, was compiled using data from 11 developing countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas.
The report finds that, in the coming decade, the volumes of e-waste created by, and sent to, developing countries is going to rise sharply, finding that, by 2020, “e-waste from old computers” will rise by 500 percent in India, while a 200-percent to-400 percent hike is expected in South Africa and China.
Full PDF:
http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/E-Waste_publication_screen_FINALVERSION-sml.pdf
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Recycler dumps toxic electronics around the world
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
May 28, 2009
After tracking hazardous waste shipments and dumping around the world, a national environmental group has sounded the alarm about a million pounds of old electronics innocently donated in Pennsylvania.
Basel Action Network contends that the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and Allegheny County, Pa., should have known that a free electronics recycling program was too good to be true. The environmental group this week issued a report claiming that EarthEcycle — which collected more than 1 million pounds of old electronics through the Humane Society’s recycling campaign in March and April — ships hazardous waste to countries where it will most likely end up in toxic dumping grounds.
Secret U.S. data found on cast-off hard drive
TheStar.com
June 23, 2009
Journalism students say they paid $40 in Ghana for a second-hand hard drive that contained information about multi-million-dollar defense contracts between the Pentagon, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and one of the largest military contractors in the United States.
One of the students said the hard drive was purchased in an open-air market in the coastal town of Tema from a local dealer who bought second-hand hard drives by the cargo load.
The drive contained information about hiring and personnel contracts and plans for U.S. defense agencies and the private military contractor Northrop Grumman, they say. The data on the hard drive included sensitive information about hiring practices, which could help people learn how to get into secured positions at places such as airports. The hard drive also contained information such as credit card numbers and family photos.
Electronics Recycling
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11/18/2008 11:23:04 AM
GAO Calls for Better Control of Electronic Scrap Exports
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report that calls for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to better control the export of harmful old electronics through stronger enforcement and more comprehensive regulation.
Items with cathode-ray (CRTs) tubes are particularly harmful, according to the GAO summary, because they can contain 4 pounds of lead per unit. To prevent the export of these devices, in January 2007 the EPA began regulating the export of CRTs under its CRT rule, which requires companies to notify EPA before exporting CRTs.
The GAO studied the fate of exported used electronic devices, the effectiveness of regulatory controls governing their export and options to strengthen federal export regulation. The GAO also reviewed waste management surveys in developing countries, monitored e-commerce Web sites and posed as foreign buyers of broken CRTs.
The GAO suggests expanding hazardous waste regulations to cover other exported used electronics; submitting a legislative package to Congress for ratifying the Basel Convention, an international regime governing the import and export of hazardous wastes; and working with Customs and Border Protection and other agencies to improve identification and tracking of exported used electronics. “Options such as these could help make U.S. export controls more consistent with those of other industrialized countries,” according to the GAO.
Article Link:
http://www.recyclingtoday.com/articles/article.asp?Id=7582&SubCatID=20&CatID=8
Toxic electronics tracked around the world to dumps
Submitted by SHNS on Thu, 05/28/2009 – 14:52.
By KARAMAGI RUJUMBA, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette national
After tracking hazardous waste shipments and dumping around the world, a national environmental group has sounded the alarm about a million pounds of old electronics innocently donated in Pennsylvania.
“When it comes to breaking down electronics, there are no free and environmentally safe recyclers,” said Sarah Westervelt, of the Seattle-based environmental watchdog Basel Action Network.
The group contends that the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and Allegheny County, Pa., should have known that a free electronics recycling program it set up with EarthEcycle LLC was too good to be true.
The environmental group this week issued a report claiming that EarthEcycle — which collected more than 1 million pounds of old electronics through the Humane Society’s recycling campaign in March and April — ships hazardous waste to countries where it will most likely end up in toxic dumping grounds.
In the EarthEcycle case, operatives of Basel Action Network tracked seven ocean-going containers as they left two warehouses — Levin Furniture in Monroeville, Pa., and another in Homewood, Pa. — and headed for Newark, N.J., and then to Hong Kong and South Africa.
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