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.

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http://www.recyclingtoday.com/articles/article.asp?Id=7582&SubCatID=20&CatID=8

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LANSING, MI. — The following is a message from the Michigan Senate:

The Michigan Senate today approved legislation that will establish a manufacturer-driven program to increase the recycling of consumer computer electronics without a charge on consumers. Both measures, sponsored by Sens. Patty Birkholz and Valde Garcia, were sent to the governor to be signed into law.

“E-waste recycling is an important program because it allows state residents to properly handle old computer equipment free of charge,” said Birkholz, R-Saugatuck Township. “By recycling these items, consumers can help reduce the amount of hazardous materials being placed in our landfills.”

Senate Bill 897, sponsored by Garcia, and SB 898, sponsored by Birkholz, will require manufacturers of consumer computer electronics to implement a take-back program for the free return of computers and video display devices that they produce. To participate, a manufacturer must first register with the state.

Part of the Senate Republican “Green Michigan Initiative,” the legislation will:

• Outline registration guidelines for manufacturers who opt to be in the program;
• Establish requirements for the electronics take-back program;
• Develop an Electronic Waste Advisory Council;
• Create the Electronics Waste Recycling Fund.

To read the entire article, please follow this link: 

http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=237258

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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.

Please read the entire article, follow the link below:

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/43444

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In Depth October 15, 2008, 7:39PM EST text size: TT

Lax rules and weak enforcement allow scrap companies to profit by sending junked computers, printers, and TVs overseas

Business is booming at Supreme Asset Management & Recovery, one of the nation’s largest recyclers of electronic waste. Inside a cavernous warehouse in the industrial section of Lakewood, N.J., workers in T-shirts grapple with newly arrived truckloads of old computer monitors, keyboards, printers, and TVs: tons of e-waste that contains dangerous lead, mercury, and cadmium. Such major manufacturers as Panasonic and JVC and municipalities like Baltimore County, Md., and Westchester County, N.Y., have paid Supreme to dispose of their digital detritus, relying on the company’s assurances that the work is done safely.

But as the e-waste industry proliferates—some 1,200 mostly tiny companies generated revenue of more than $3 billion last year—it has also become enmeshed in questionable practices that undercut its environmentally friendly image. Next year the volume of e-waste will probably surge. In February, U.S. consumers must switch from analog to digital television service, a move that is expected to result in the mass junking of analog TVs.

“No Accountability”

Seven former Supreme employees told BusinessWeek in interviews that they knew about the company selling large monitor shipments overseas. Despite the sales offerings on the Internet and the accounts of its former employees, Supreme says flatly that it “is not an exporter” of e-waste. The phrasing of its statement leaves open the possibility that others export the materials. But Supreme adds that to its knowledge, all of its buyers behave lawfully.

(page 2 of 2)

Varkonyi, 63, describes himself as a middleman for recyclers who, he says, want to tell their corporate and municipal clients that they don’t export PCs or other potentially hazardous gear: “I buy stuff from other recyclers who then claim that they do not export anything.” Varkonyi won’t name his customers.

Business is booming at Supreme Asset Management & Recovery, one of the nation’s largest recyclers of electronic waste. Inside a cavernous warehouse in the industrial section of Lakewood, N.J., workers in T-shirts grapple with newly arrived truckloads of old computer monitors, keyboards, printers, and TVs: tons of e-waste that contains dangerous lead, mercury, and cadmium. Such major manufacturers as Panasonic and JVC and municipalities like Baltimore County, Md., and Westchester County, N.Y., have paid Supreme to dispose of their digital detritus, relying on the company’s assurances that the work is done safely.

But as the e-waste industry proliferates—some 1,200 mostly tiny companies generated revenue of more than $3 billion last year—it has also become enmeshed in questionable practices that undercut its environmentally friendly image. Next year the volume of e-waste will probably surge. In February, U.S. consumers must switch from analog to digital television service, a move that is expected to result in the mass junking of analog TVs.

For the full article, follow the link below.

Link: 

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_43/b4105000160974.htm

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