eWaste the new Chernobyl?

60 Minutes did a very interesting story Sunday night about eWaste. Of course this included a focus on China but still a great story about a rapidly growing problem and could include us here and our recycling programs....

Link to the segment: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n

 

Want to NOT be part of the problem? Visit www.pcrecycler.net. Once a month they have a FREE dropoff & will take "anything that plugs into a wall socket." They break everything down as far as they can and recycle every last bit that they can.

And they do bulk paper shredding!

 

while it is not completely free that is good to know... but the place highlighted in the 60 minutes show, in Colorado sounds just like pcrecycler and yet they were found to be quietly shipping some stuff to China... mainly the CRT parts of TV and monitors... because of the lead.

 

That's the whole point of that news story...people here in the states who were recylcling electronics and then they were being shipped to China

 

...yea wanna see what happens to your skin after melting and handling chromium and bromide for a while? Too bad that these people are so desperate to earn $8 day, but it is the best job they can find.

 

Right - I understand that was the point of the report. What I am saying is that I think I've done a good job of vetting PC Recyclers and I think they do it the right way.

However, I will follow up with them, make certain and report back.

 

I saw that story, too and was disappointed that they didn't give any tips on which companies are the good ones doing things right. There is a company that does an electronics recycling event in the Telos parking lot here in Ashburn a couple of times and year and I'm curious how they rate...

 

Activists launch certification for e-waste recycling

Posted by Martin LaMonica, CNET

Activists groups on Monday launched a certification program meant to identify responsible recyclers of electronic gear in North America.
The program, called the e-Steward Initiative, was organized by the Basel Action Network, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, and Electronic Recyclers International.
The launch of the program was timed with the release of a 60 Minutes segment that publicized problems in the electronic waste recycling industry.


~~~~ READ MORE ~~~~

Find your local responsible e-cycler

 

wow...that was horrible. And that Executive Recycling guy thinks the 60 Minutes guy is out there to ruin small businesses without having all the facts straight. Coward.

 

Thanks Kaos for checking into it further. And that certification process seems like a good idea as well and is certainly going to push more of them to do the right thing.