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Not long ago, the CBS show “60 Minutes” aired a story about e-waste and global dumping. Reporters followed a trail of e-recycling items from a Denver-based company to Hong Kong, China, and caught the so-called “recycling” company red-handed getting involved in the global e-waste dumping.

With over 80% of recycled electronics and computers ending up as high-tech e-waste in developing countries like China, India, and Africa, we must step up as responsible global citizens and choose computer recycling companies and electronic products very carefully. . We must support only those electronics recycling companies that are running a socially and environmentally sound operation, from start to finish. To understand how global landfilling occurs, it helps to first understand the business model for electronic recycling.

To sustain themselves as a business, electronics recyclers must generate sufficient income from all of their recycling and reuse services and the recovery of precious metals and other recycling materials, less operating costs and the cost of dismantling those items that have no value (but damage the environment).

The difference between an environmentally responsible and an irresponsible computer and electronics recycling company can be broken down as follows: a) how they generate revenue from reuse; (b) how they recover precious metals and recycling materials; c) how they manage the dismantling process of low-value toxic elements.

Consider the precious metals claim process for a moment. A responsible company would need to invest in having a safe work environment with adequate protective equipment for its workers and proper waste treatment procedures to prevent environmental contamination. Additionally, a responsible electronics recycling company will operate using specialized dismantling equipment that protects workers from harmful materials or dust that escapes during the dismantling process.

An irresponsible recycling company avoids any investment in the dismantling area. In fact, irresponsible recycling companies never see the workers who eventually break leftover electronic parts. As seen on the show “60 Minutes,” these workers are often low-paid laborers from remote villages, using bare hands and primitive tools like chisels and hammers to extract precious materials from discarded items. The discarded final parts are then dumped anywhere, in rivers or streams or burned in a swamp, causing significant public health concerns.

The most dangerous materials found in e-waste are not reclaimed precious metals, but low-value toxic materials, such as mercury found in switches and flat-panel displays, and brominated flame retardants used in electronics. printed circuit boards, cables and plastic covers. These are the materials that require the greatest investment in the dismantling process. In short, the cost of operating a safely operated dismantling facility makes responsible electronic recycling much more difficult than the widely used alternative: global landfilling.

Giving in to the higher salvage prices offered by irresponsible global dumpers, many so-called recycling collectors ship their materials to irresponsible recyclers, who in turn “sell” the recycling cargo to exporters. A few handshakes later and the cargo of electronic waste arrives at the ports of the poorest countries of the global village. Since the US prohibits the dumping of e-waste in other countries, most e-waste cargo is shipped labeled “Used Equipment” while, in fact, most recycled e-waste is too old or too out of service to have any reuse value.

To identify a responsible recycling company, one must first be able to identify the telltale signs that a recycling company is involved in global dumping.

Irresponsible recycling companies:

1. Avoid educating the public about the e-waste crisis, either on your company website or in your company’s marketing material. Irresponsible electronics recyclers make it look too easy for the consumer not to ask questions.
2. Skip the details on how they track and manage the recycling process to prevent global landfilling. Again, the less the consumer knows, the easier it is for an irresponsible electronics recycler to engage in some form of global dumping.
3. Host greenwashing events with reputable non-profits that don’t understand the proper recycling process. By making the electronics recycling process sound easy and hiding under the guise of raising funds for schools, chambers of commerce, police association leagues, and other non-profits, these electronics recyclers further disarm the public. generally about “donating” your unwanted electronics at “fund-raising” events. . Electronics recyclers who participate in a greenwash fundraiser do not charge any recycling fees, but generate enough funds to donate to the nonprofit and can still pay the high costs of dismantling toxic items. This business model does not exist because it is simply too good to be true. It is also an abuse of the goodwill of the non-profit organizations involved. The truth is that these fundraising “recyclers” collect items that can be recovered for cash and then dump the rest in developing countries. They incur minimal handling costs by selling them as “exports.” This is how 80% of computer and electronics recycling materials in the US end up as e-waste in developing countries.
4. Failure to provide a permanent address for your electronics recycling facility or a proper permit to operate as a recycler. Many use a post office box or just a phone number that they post during neighborhood collection drives. When you call, it always goes directly to an answering machine. There is no one available to give you more information about their services.

Now that you know how to identify an irresponsible electronics recycling company, let’s review what a responsible electronics recycling company looks like.

1. Find an electronics recycler that affirms a corporate commitment to address the global e-waste crisis.
2. Use computer and electronics recycling companies that actively educate the public about the e-waste crisis and the socially responsible way to recycle and dismantle.
3. Make sure your electronics recycling company can demonstrate its thorough process in evaluating reused items, items for demanufacturing, and also its monitoring system to keep track of the entire demanufacturing process.
4. Support electronics recyclers who use only dismantling facilities in the US that have the proper permits, dismantling machines and processes, and a health and safety monitoring system for their workers.
5. Use computer and electronics recyclers that generate enough revenue from services to be able to allocate adequate budget to the responsible processing of toxic materials.
6. Choose an electronics recycler that is highly respected by environmentalists who have focused on the e-waste crisis. These environmentalists have seen first-hand how dumping occurs and know all too well how to identify responsible recyclers.