Reps. Gene Green and Mike Thompson have introduced in Congress a bill that addresses the export of obsolete electronics. The bill, House Resolution 6252, The Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, seeks to provide the United States with a regulatory framework to monitor the export of used electronics.
The bill has been introduced into the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, which is part of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
The congressmen say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks a framework to monitor the removal, disposal and export of electronics to developing nations.
A spokesman for Green says that while 23 states currently have laws regarding electronics recycling, “they do not touch on the trade issue. The United States is the only developed country without a unified national approach,” he says. “This is a way for us to catch up.”
In a release accompanying the bill’s introduction, Green says, “As technology advances at a rapid pace, explosive sales patterns emerge in consumer consumption, and old electronics are discarded as a result. Many of these electronics are sent to developing nations for re-use or recycling.”
However, electronic scrap can contain toxic chemicals that present environmental and health concerns when not properly handled. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that many of the developing nations who receive electronic scrap from the United States do not have the capacity or facilities to safely recycle and dispose of these used electronics.
“Every year, we scrap 400 million units of electronics in the U.S.,” says Thompson. “Each piece of e-waste can be incredibly harmful to our environment. Congressional action to stop the free flow of these dangerous materials is long overdue, and we must act now before it is too late.”
If passed, the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act would create a new section of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) that would prohibit the export of restricted electronic scrap to developing nations. While tested and working equipment can still be exported to promote re-use, other consumer electronic equipment, parts and material derived from them that contain toxic chemicals could not be exported to developing nations under the regulation.
Export shipments of nonhazardous or tested and working electronic products and parts are not restricted. Other exemptions include:
- Products under warranty being returned to the manufacturing facility that made them;
- Products or parts being recalled; and
- Crushed cathode ray tube (CRT) glass cullet that is cleaned and fully prepared to be used as feedstock at CRT glass manufacturing facilities.
“The marketplace has rejected the practice of dumping e-waste on developing countries, but exporting instead of recycling is still common in our industry,” says Robert Houghton, president of Redemtech Inc., an Ohio-based asset recovery company. “Such so-called recyclers are virtually defrauding customers who count on them for responsible recycling, at the same time they are helping to poison workers in recycling sweatshops overseas. By ending the toxic trade in e-waste, this bill does the right thing and will create thousands more jobs in recycling and refurbishment here in the U.S.”
The regulatory framework is consistent with policies most other developed nations have adopted through international treaties, according to its sponsors.
The legislation has received support from Dell, Apple, Samsung, The Electronics TakeBack Coalition and The Natural Resources Defense Council.
In a statement, Walter Alcorn, vice president of environmental affairs and industry sustainability for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), says, “CEA strongly supports responsible recycling. We are studying the details of this bill and look forward to working with the bill sponsors to find the best approach to ensure that recycling is done responsibly.”
In a Sept. 30 teleconference announcing the legislation, Thompson said he has prepared legislation for a federal electronics recycling bill along with co-author Green. “That is somewhere in the process now,” he added.
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