Title: Responsible Recycling vs Global Dumping – Electronics TakeBack Coalition
Headings: Responsible Recycling vs Global Dumping
Responsible Recycling vs Global Dumping
Responsible recycling
Global e-Waste Dumping
Primitive Processing Contaminates Workers, Residents
Exporting Harm: The High Tech Trashing of Asia
How much e-waste do we export each year?
Federal GAO Report Finds E-Waste Exports Handled Unsafely
CNN Report: “China: The electronic wastebasket of the world”

Content: Responsible Recycling vs Global Dumping – Electronics TakeBack Coalition
Responsible Recycling vs Global Dumping
E-waste dumping in Ghana. Photo by Basel Action Network. Copyright BAN 2009
Responsible recycling
When we drop off our old computers at an e-waste collection event, or have a recycler come and get them from our offices, we want to believe that the recycler is going to do the right thing: to reuse them if possible, and handle them in ways that are safe for workers and the environment. Electronics contain many toxic chemicals, and so a responsible recycler is one that is making sure that he – and the other vendors he may sell parts or materials to – is managing all aspects of the business as safely as possible. Global e-Waste Dumping
The problem is that many electronics recyclers don’t actually recycle the electronics they collect from us. They can make more money by selling old electronic products to exporting waste traders than by processing it here in the U.S. Traders send it to developing countries where workers earn extremely low wages (often a few dollars per day) and where health and safety and environmental laws, enforcement, infrastructure and citizens’ rights are very weak. Simply stated, we are solving our e-waste problem by exporting it to poor countries around the globe. Primitive Processing Contaminates Workers, Residents
Former farmers cooking circuit boards. “ We can make 10 times more money doing this than we can from farming because the local government taxes farmers to much.