Recycling. The next threat to humanity?

Americans think they help the earth when they recycle their electronic gadgets like computers, cell phones etc. But in reality, they contribute to the global trade in electronic trash that pollutes the environment overseas.

The latest figures show that in about 50-75 percent of the 300,000 tons of electronic trash collected for recycling in the U.S each year ends up overseas. Workers from various countries like China, Nigeria use hammers, and their hands to extract metals, and other recyclables exposing them. This endangers workers.

Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network said that it was being recycled in a horrific way. He said that they were preserving own environment while contaminating the rest of the world.

Recycling industry officials say that the gear most likely to be shipped abroad is collected at free recycling drives. Officials say that companies, cities and counties hire the cheapest firms and do not question on what is the outcome of the thrown away equipments.

The problem can get poorer. According to the Environment Protection Agency data almost 2 million tons of electronics discarded by Americans annually goes to landfills. Activists say that states are banning wastes from landfills, which could drive more waste into the recycling stream in the near future.

Many claim that they export items which are used for reuse in poor nations. Recently in Hong Kong customs officials were tipped off by environmentalists for the same reason. They found out containers which had old electronic equipments discarded by Americans.China has banned the import of electronic waste.

John Bekiaris, chief executive of San Francisco-based HMR USA Inc said that people were getting away with exporting electronic waste. People who wanted to dispose their electronics needed to do an inspection of the vendors they used.

Fortune Sky USA, a subsidiary of a Chinese company was shipping containers. Recently General Manager of Fortune Sky told his company thought that it was buying and shipping used computers, not old monitors and was trying to get its money back. Fortune Sky, exports used computers to China, Malaysia and other Asian countries.

The General Manager of Fortune Sky said that there was a huge market for secondhand computers. He continued saying that if the equipments could still be used, then it was good for everybody and it could not cause pollution.

Puckett of Basel Action Network said that reuse was a new excuse, which was a passport to export. Activists were complaining that exporters don’t check the items to make sure they work before sending it overseas. On the other end, at customs the goods don’t get checked.

In 2007, Hong Kong authorities returned in about 80 containers of electronic waste which included 20 from US. The authorities at Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department said it was impossible for them to check every container that was imported to Hong Kong.

In the US, exporting electronic waste isn’t illegal, but US does bar the export of monitors with cathode rays, but authorities in the US lack resources to check most containers.

Electronic makers should take back their products and recycle them. Such laws may help in making products that are easier to recycle and can contain few dangerous materials.

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November 18, 2007 | Filed Under Tech News