After a long-simmering defamation lawsuit was dismissed this month, the Basel Action Network has gone on the offensive. A report released by BAN today indicates Intercon Solutions, a Chicago-area processor that appears to be inactive, exported at least 167 containers of scrap material to Hong Kong and other Asian ports between 2010 and 2011.
Most e-scrap leaving U.S. shores is reused in developing countries, not dumped, an Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries official said.
Illinois legislators are quickly advancing a bill that aims to make it easier for e-scrap companies to send CRT glass to storage cells.
West Virginia has repealed a ban on the landfilling of televisions and other devices.
Best Buy has announced it will begin charging for TVs and computer monitors customers bring into the company’s stores for recycling.
A hearing on Pennsylvania’s e-scrap program touched on a legislative proposal to substantially increase manufacturer collection goals as well as alternative solutions to ensure collected material gets recycled.
R2 and e-Stewards representatives are challenging the legality of a bill in Illinois that prohibits accrediting organizations from penalizing e-scrap companies if they send CRT glass to storage cells at a landfill.
Seattle-based Total Reclaim has admitted to exporting broken, mercury-containing flat panel monitors to Hong Kong after an investigation by the Basel Action Network followed the devices overseas. The company’s long-held e-Stewards certification has been withdrawn for two years as a result.
A recently released export tracking study from the Basel Action Network found that roughly one-third of low-value devices dropped off for recycling in the U.S. ended up outside the country.
Product lightweighting is preventing manufacturers from increasing e-scrap collection volumes in Canada’s most populous province.