A two-year study by a watchdog organization has found that hazardous electronic waste (e-waste), such as computer monitors, televisions and printers, continues to be exported overseas, creating workplace safety risks for foreign workers and violating importing countries' laws, despite promises that the items would be recycled within the United States.
Basel Action Network (BAN) May 9 released its report "Disconnect: Goodwill and Dell Exporting the Public's E-Waste to Developing Countries" following a two-year study in which the group through electronic GPS tracking devices tracked the journey of used electronics given to recyclers and Goodwill stores under the expectation they would be recycled within the United States.
The report found that 65 of the 200 devices tracked, or 32.5 percent, were exported, mostly to Asia likely in violation of importing countries' laws, the report says.
While 15 percent of the Goodwill donated electronics that were tracked were exported, of the tracker-enabled used electronics donated directly to recyclers in the United States, 39 percent were exported, according to the report.
“The export route robs green business development and sacrifices green jobs in the US where the waste was created, while harming desperate workers and the environment in countries least able to deal with it,” the report says.
By far, most of the exported used electronics went to the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, the report says, noting that the region does not appear to be enforcing China's long-standing e-waste import ban as diligently as mainland China has begun to do.
"Unfortunately, we are seeing considerable backsliding in the electronics industry today compared to just a few years ago," BAN Executive Director Jim Puckett says in a May 9 press release from the group. "Toxic e-waste is flowing off our shores every day to substandard operations, harming people and the environment across the globe. Meanwhile, these exports deprive our own nation of green jobs and make it difficult for responsible electronics recyclers to compete and survive.”
The report points out that although it singles out Goodwill Industries International, Inc. and Dell Inc. -- which partners with Goodwill through Dell Reconnect ensuring that donated electronics will be refurbished or recycled responsibly -- the focus on the two "is but an example of what we expect might be widespread practice across the country by many other actors in the field of e-waste management.”
The discovery of exports "present a glaring disconnect from public promise and corporate policy," the report says. "Being careless and non-transparent can cause as much harm as willful acts or intentional profiteering at the expense of others," it says.
The report cites damages to human health and environment and businesses as a result of illegal exports. Moving hazardous e-waste across borders to avoid the costs of safely managing it usually means it goes to poorer countries where polluters do not have to pay for the pollution caused by improper disposal or recycling, it says. Also, exporting e-waste "robs green business development and sacrifices green jobs in the US where the waste was created, while harming desperate workers and the environment in countries least able to deal with it," the report says.