Although not the only destination of e-waste, Guiya, China is an infamous one-industry port town which processes up to 80% of the U.S. electronic waste. Most of its 30,000 residents (including children) work for less than $3.00 a day, exposing themselves to certain and excessive lead, mercury and PVC poisoning.

In its study, the GOA conducted a “sting” claiming to be a foreign broker interested in importing CRT’s. Recycling companies in Colorado, Washington, Illinois, Wisconsin and other states responded to the offer, knowing that such a sale would be illegal. The GAO report pointed out two basic problems and obvious solutions:

The U.S. has not joined the community of developed nations to adopt standards for recycling e-waste … it should adopt legislation to do so.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not attempted to enforce (and has no plans to enforce) even the limited standards the U.S. has agreed to … it should.

Certainly, it is a travesty that the richest nation in the world is one of only a very few (Afghanistan, Haiti and the U.S.) refusing to ratify the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. And it is a travesty that the U.S. agency charged with enforcing environmental laws refuses to enforce all the provisions of the primary law governing the disposal of solid and hazardous waste in the U.S.: the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Ironically, this issue presents an opportunity for the government and technological companies to promote the reuse of valuable resources, develop “greener” technologies, and create many “green-collar” jobs.

Consider this proposal which assumes that waste disposal is a valid function of a modern government and that the cost for recycling should be incorporated into the price of the product:

The government would levy a ‘recycling’ tax on each electronic device sold or brought into the country. Private industries, certified by the government and paid with the ‘recycling’ tax, would collect used devices, employ workers to dismantle all parts into their proper categories, process each category to recover and sell all valuable reusable materials, and legally and safely dispose of waste.

This basic solution, while simplified here, would place the onus of disposal where it has always belonged but was never levied: the user.

For more information, refer to:

• Basal Action Network: www.ban.org/
• CBS 60 Minutes “The Wasteland”: www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n GAO 08-1044
• Electronic Waste Exports Report: www.greenbiz.com/files/document/gao%20e-waste%20report.pdf
• RCRA Online: www.epa.gov/rcraonline