September 18, 2008 4:30am
Posted by: Stephanie Condon
CNET News
Congress is now looking at the current restrictions on e-waste. E-waste is electronic waste that includes recycled electronics and electronic waste. E-waste is being exported to other nations such as China and India. These countries are improperly handling the waste and it could be harmful to their population and the environment. Currently the EPA has very little restrictions on e-waste. The restrictions cover only old cathode ray tube televisions and monitors. These existing regulations are not well enforced. Other exported used electronics such as computers, printers, and cellphones "flow virtually unrestricted" into other countries. There is a significant economic incentive for recycling companies to export hazardous e-waste because the need for raw materials in a country like China is driving up the demand for electronics. The only restrictions on e-waste, which covers CRT televisions, were implemented in January of 2007 and since then only one company has violated them. However, the Government Accountability Office posed as foreign CRT buyers and 43 U.S. companies were willing to ignore the current restrictions. "The U.S. fails to hold manufacturers responsible for the end-of-life management of their products that contain toxic materials" The GAO has proposed three recommendations to solve this problem. The EPA should expand its restrictions on hazardous materials so that they cover all products that pose a risk during disassembly. The U.S. should improve it's identification and tracking of exports to identify used electronics. Congress should implement legislation to ratify the Basel Convention. The Basel Convention would control and monitor the trans boundary movement of hazardous waste. Not all companies are at fault. Companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard have programs that safely recycle used electronics. I am surprised that the EPA didn't have more restrictions on e-waste. I guess it has not been much of a problem until late. I like that congress is looking into this and is trying to impose the Basil Convention. Hopefully congress passes these ideas and keeps U.S. companies from taking advantage of other countries.
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