DANGERS OF E-WASTE AND E-CYCLING

By Chris Rodinis
November 19th 20

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/

 

20% of Companies Are Unaware of Their Own Illegal Dumping of Electronic Waste 

As reported by charity “Computer Aid,” for every five IT administrators at least one has no clue as to the ultimate destiny of their business computers, servers, hard drives, components and monitors. This 20% of IT professionals is just not sure about knowing if their end of life electronics are lying in a landfill somewhere here or overseas. On the average, 65% of managers were sure or strongly believed that their end of life electronics were not in landfills. 13% were simply unaware of government regulations.

Per the director of communications for Computer Aid, many large companies are not able to confirm their end of life electronics have not been dumped in a landfill. According to the director, businesses must use recycling companies that track the e-waste to prevent harm to workers and the environment. With corporations upgrading equipment every three years; and, the opportunity and benefit to the environment; in addition to job creation;  recycling and Remarketing is the best possible practice. Currently, roughly 28% of companies recycle their e-waste and 41% try to re-use at least half of their e-waste. Reasons cited for not recycling for reuse were first and foremost data security or fear of a data breach. Only 14% of the companies surveyed reported using “best practices” for e-waste disposal.

E. P. A. Fines Western Digital $62k

$62,500 was the amount of the fine given to Western Digital Corporation for improper management of e-waste at its California plant.  Per the EPA and RCRA guidelines, the handling and disposal of hazardous substances must be conducted in a way that safeguards the public, the workers, and the environment. Here is a short list of recent violations by WD: failure to properly label containers, to control emissions, to train personnel, to monitor equipment, to have a contingency plan, and failure to have a leak detection system in place.

E-waste as Toxic Hazardous Waste

Currently the US is the worldwide leader in developing the latest recycling technologies. Being the leader means more responsibility in protecting the public and the environment from the harm caused by lack of following “best practices” of manufacturing and recycling.

When e-waste is disposed in the US, sometimes it is taken to landfills or exported overseas where it will likely be mishandled or harmfully dumped. Current laws have limited scope in stopping dangerous exports of e-waste to emerging countries. Some businesses in emerging countries hazardously dis-assemble computers so they can extract the gold, silver and other precious metals which can be a source of damage to the environment and to the health of workers. Even though the EPA is focused on domestic policy, internationally, it hopes to alleviate problems that are associated with exporting.

E-waste Contains Valuable Material

Servers, computers, and white-boxes have over sixty different ferrous and nonferrous metals.
Also, there is plastic, rubber, and polymers and ceramics. Steel, aluminum and copper are very prevalent. Gold and silver are less prevalent. Only about 1% of the total is precious metal such as gold, silver and palladium. The complete breakdown of materials is forever changing based on the brand, the year of manufacture and the latest technology.

The difficulty and dangers vary according to what type of e-waste it is. Extracting precious metals may pose a threat of toxins greater than the recycling of steel or aluminum. Therefore best practices must be followed in order not to harm the workers of the environment. The list of exotic names for these embedded toxins is long and confusing, doing the proper job of recycling that much more painstaking. Interestingly enough, most consumers know the latest gadgets and their use, however;  few consumers know little of the complicated toxic layers within the latest gadgets.

E-waste: Too Dangerous To Export?

Recently, a vice-president for marketing of an IT asset recycling company was quoted as saying that his company, unlike his competitors, does not purchase e-waste and transport it straight to the port of overseas shipment. This might be an indication that this is a common method of doing business in this industry. Another practice is the use of a “middleman.” One recycler works for a primary recycler to Fortune 500’s and municipalities. The primary recycler is able to tell his clients that he does not export. The middleman would tell you that he buys from other recyclers who are able to then say that they are not exporting end user e-waste.

Here is a typical scenario described by BAN: An e-waste collector will take a several ton load of computers and extract the component’s value, the most cash, and then sell  them in the gray market.  The remaining “skin and guts” of the machine will become “breakage” to be sorted into different types and place in gaylord storage bins. These bins are then brokered to China.

Once in the city of Nanhai in Guangdong they are distributed by grade to four very large warehouses where purchasers of e-waste can bid on lots. These lots will most likely be incinerated to extract ferrous or nonferrous metals, or there may be some remaining profit in extracting whatever components are left.

Sometimes E-waste collectors ship it overseas as bulk material with no extraction at all. Brokerage firms have a reputation for being competitive, and locating buyers of e-scrap in China is very easy. Concerning the bottom line, if no processing and exporting create the best money that is what will prevail. If extracting component creates more dollars from Remarketing then that is what will happen. When melting components domestically makes the most cash then that happens.

Here is a direct quote from the owner of a recycling company: “I think it’s about the money. When you move material offshore, you get paid twice for doing very little work. You get paid on the front side for taking somebody’s material and you get paid on the backside for getting rid of it to Asia, and you don’t have to do a whole lot of work for it, so it’s all about the money”

E-waste and California Senate Bill 50

“SEC. 17.  Section 42476.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:42476.5.
Duties of person exporting covered electronic waste.

A person who exports covered electronic waste, or a covered electronic device
intended for recycling or disposal, to a foreign country, or to another state for ultimate
export to a foreign country, shall do all of the following at least 60 days prior to export:

(a) Notify the department of the destination, disposition, contents, and volume of
the waste, or device intended for recycling or disposal to be exported, and include with the
notification the demonstrations required pursuant to subdivisions (b) to (e), inclusive.

(b) Demonstrate that the waste or device is being exported for the purposes of
recycling or disposal.

(c) Demonstrate that the importation of the waste or device is not prohibited by an
applicable law in the state or country of destination and that any import will be conducted
in accordance with all applicable laws. As part of this demonstration, required import and
operating licenses, permits, or other appropriate authorization documents shall be
forwarded to the department.

(d) Demonstrate that the exportation of the waste or device is conducted in
accordance with applicable United States or applicable international law.

(e) (1) Demonstrate that the waste or device will be managed within the country of
destination only at facilities whose operations meet or exceed the binding decisions and
implementing guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
for the environmentally sound management of the waste or device being exported.

(2) The demonstration required by this subdivision applies to any country of
destination, notwithstanding that the country is not a member of the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development.” (State of California, 2004)

E-waste and the Benefits of E-cycling

• E-cycling assures and grows jobs in the US augmenting competitiveness.
• E-cycling diminishes demand for incinerating and landfills.
• E-cycling avoids pollution made by manufacturers of electronics from freshly mined minerals.
• E-cycling causes a net energy savings.
• E-cycling diminishes greenhouse emissions (carbon footprint).
• E-cycling uses less resources such as water, trees and precious metals.
• E-cycling is a green sustainable solution for the future of our earth.
• E-cycling as performed by www.EwasteWiz.com has benefits!