E-Scrap and Personal Responsibility

Exporting e-scrap and e-waste overseas carries a lot of negative ethical implications. Businesses that export e-scrap are often making a profit off the way developing countries mishandle toxic and sensitive materials. Workers, many of them children, will often smash open electronics hoping to recover platinum, gold, silver and other precious metals while at the same time being exposed to lead, mercury and other toxins. The materials are then left in landfill-sized piles, leaching these toxic metals into the earth and the water tables. When businesses are discovered to be participating in these practices, often action is taken.

The Case of Executive Recycling

One criminal case in recent years is getting more current attention because of the sentencing of top executives. Top employees from Executive Recycling in Colorado were recently sentenced to federal prison for illegally exporting more than 100,000 CRT devices overseas. The case was so flagrant it was featured in “60 Minutes,” bringing great attention to the issue of e-scrap exporting. A jury found both the owner/CEO and the former vice president of operations guilty, and their initial sentences were recently reduced on appeal. After four years of working through the appeals, some of the initial charges were reduced or amended. But the important piece of information here is that personal responsibility in the form of prison was levied against people in a decision making position.

Avoiding Shady Business Practices

It is difficult to know once we drop off our electronics for recycling what, exactly, will happen to them. Developing a relationship with your local e-waste recycler can help provide the education you need to see how transparent the process really is. Find out how your recycler treats e-waste. Is there a refurbishing process? What happens to electronics that cannot be refurbished or otherwise recycled? By taking an active role in educating our communities and ourselves we can also help hold our businesses to higher standards. What we do in San Diego can, indeed, affect the lives of children in China!