Posts Tagged ‘e-waste’
Europe breaking electronic waste export ban
August 4th, 2010 | 
Author: 4 August 2010 Last updated at 08:04 ET
By Aidan Lewis BBC News, Rotterdam
Old televisions and computers containing hazardous substances are still being exported from Europe despite a ban aimed at stopping the trade, which poisons workers at makeshift recycling plants in Africa and Asia.
In Rotterdam a Dutch customs officer swings open a heavy metal door to reveal a pile of old televisions stacked tight within a shipping container.
Instead of proceeding to Ivory Coast, these goods will be impounded, checked and most likely sent back to Germany, from where they arrived.
This is the front line of the European effort to stop electronic and electrical equipment, consumed and discarded in ever greater quantities, from being dumped in the developing world.
What is e-waste?
- E-waste includes TVs, telephones, computers, white goods, and everyday household electrical items from toasters to toys
- Circuit boards are prized as scrap, because they contain gold, silver, copper and other elements
- These can only be retrieved safely with specialised recycling procedures
- ‘Backyard recycling’ may expose people to lead and mercury, dioxins from burning plastic, and hazardous leaching agents such as cyanide
The e-waste contains valuable metals, which are extracted at informal recycling sites.
But it also contains toxic heavy metals and hazardous chemicals that are handled by workers, some of them children.
Read Full Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10846395
Posted in 
Tags: 
New York Passes Strict E-waste Law
by Amanda Wills
Published on June 9th, 2010
It has been hailed as “the most progressive, best researched e-waste bill in country” by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
While New York is the 23rd state to pass an e-waste law, this new legislation is more stringent, holding both manufacturers and consumers responsible for disposing electronic waste.
Starting in April 2011, manufacturers across the state must offer free programs allowing consumers to drop of their items for proper disposal. Manufacturers will also be prohibited from dumping e-waste in landfills. That same rule will go into effect for consumers starting Jan. 15, 2015.
According to The New York Times, the state will mandate the amount of electronic waste each company is required to recycle or reuse annually. This number is based on each manufacturer’s market share of electronics sales in New York.
Companies that don’t meet the recycling standards will be ordered to pay fines that will be used to fund state-run recycling programs. “Recycling credits” will be rewarded to companies that collect more waste than required, an aspect of the law that has been called an “unfortunate loophole” as these credits can be traded or sold.
Full Story:
E-waste from around the world
E-Waste
March 12th, 2010 Ashish Saklecha
Experts said exposure to toxic chemicals from e-waste – including lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium and polybrominated biphenyls – can damage the brain and nervous system, affect the kidneys and liver, and cause birth defects.
The report was launched in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali. It used data from 11 developing countries to estimate current and future e-waste generation from discarded computers, printers, mobile phones, pagers, cameras, music players, refrigerators, toys, televisions and other items.
China produces an estimated 2.3 million tons of e-waste annually, and though the country has banned e-waste imports, it remains a major dumping ground for waste from developed countries, the report said.
The UN research predicts that in South Africa and China, e-waste from old computers may jump by 200 to 400 per cent from 2007 levels and by 500 per cent in India.
E-waste from mobile phones in the same period is forecast to rise seven times in China, and 18 times in India.
According to the report, over 1 billion mobile phones were sold in 2007 worldwide, up from 896 million in 2006.
The report said most e-waste in China was improperly handled, with much of it incinerated by backyard recyclers to recover valuable metals like gold. Jim Pucket of the Basel Action Network, a non-governmental organization fighting the international trade in toxic wastes, said massive amounts of discarded devices had been exported to China for years.
Full Article Link: http://edutail.com/buzz/e-waste-from-around-the-world/526?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+edutail+%28Indian+Education+Blog%29
E-waste trade ban won’t end environmental threat
A proposal under debate in the U.S. Congress to ban the export of electronics waste would likely make a growing global environmental problem even worse, say authors of an article from the journal Environmental Science and Technology appearing online today. The authors call into question conventional thinking that trade bans can prevent “backyard recycling” of electronics waste – primarily old and obsolete computers – in developing countries.
Primitive recycling processes used in these countries are dispersing materials and pollutants that are contaminating air, water and soil.
“Trade bans will become increasingly irrelevant in solving the problem,” says Eric Williams, one of the authors of the article, which offers alternative ways to address the problem.
Full Article: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/03/22/e.waste.trade.ban.wont.end.environmental.threat
An exceptional sustainable alliance!
May 12, 2009 – 11:05 EST
GEEP Ecosys Inc. helps keep students away from dropping out through their engagement with the R Deseau qu Deb Decois des CFER
MONTREAL, May 12 /CNW Telbec/ – GEEP Ecosys Inc. joins forces with the R Deseau qu Deb Decois des Centres de formation en entreprise et r Decup Deration (CFER) in order to motivate young students to persevere within the educational frame while contributing to the protection of the environment.
The CFER are schools with integrated companies which target young Quebecers aged between 15 and 18 years old, who are challenged with learning difficulties in school. While receiving training with respect to the recovery and recycling of obsolete technology equipment, those students are enrolled in an educational program combining traditional teaching methods with a professional integration curriculum. This program gives them access to a certificate.
GEEP Ecosys Inc. plays a major role in this initiative developed by le R Deseau qu Deb Decois des CFER. GEEP provides them with viable, ecological and commercial options for their end-of-life products. In doing so, the company enables these non-profit organizations to maximize their revenues. As part of their training, the students will participate in the sorting out and disassembly of equipment. GEEP Ecosys Inc. will, in its turn, complete the process by managing efficiently and ecologically the end-of-life technology.
Additionally, GEEP Ecosys Inc. will provide certain CFER students at the end of their training, with the possibility of experiencing a supervised industrial internship designed to receive hands-on experience and put classroom theory into practice. This will facilitate their introduction to the job market and enhance their knowledge with regards to sustainable development.
“These students represent our promising youth and it is our responsibility to provide them with the necessary tools so they can become both professional autonomous and engaged citizens who are conscious that their quality-life also depends on their environment,” confirms Bruce Hartley, Vice President of GEEP Ecosys Inc.
Such a partnership enables GEEP Ecosys Inc. to significantly expand its network of e-colleX point of collection for technology equipment in Quebec in light of an upcoming provincial regulation on this matter.
About GEEP Ecosys Inc.
GEEP Ecosys Inc. (www.geepecosys.com), associated to the GEEP Group, is a company specialized in the end of life cycle management of technology related assets, which on one hand provides reverse logistics, detailed audit reporting, data security and refurbishing and on the other hand provides environmentally friendly recycling solutions. GEEP has partners in the industrial, institutional, commercial and domestic sectors in order to provide a sound commercial and green management for the end-of-life phase of technological assets. A leader in the industry, GEEP already owns more than 24 e-colleX e-waste collection sites, as well as six service centers in Canada of which two are e-waste recycling plants – one in Barrie, Ontario and the other in Edmonton, Alberta. These plants follow the effective and environmentally friendly end-of-life solution developed by GEEP.
GEEP has developed a global presence in order to service both international and local clients. GEEP focuses on sustainable development while ensuring the health and safety of its workers.
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/cnw/article.jsp?content=20090512_110502_2_cnw_cnw
