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Gazelle, the online consumer electronics "reCommerce" service, reported it has partnered with Costco to set up the wholesale club's electronics trade-in and recycle program. The Gazelle Electronics Trade-In and Recycle Program involves three simple steps: 1.Visit costco.gazelle.com to determine the value of the electronic device; 2.Ship the item(s) to Gazelle for free; and 3.Receive a Costco Cash Card for the value of the item(s). The program will accept consumer electronics in a growing number of nearly 20 categories including digital cameras, laptops, MP3 players, cell phones and more.

BAN's Mission: "BAN works to prevent the globalization of the toxic chemical crisis. We work in opposition to toxic trade in toxic wastes, toxic products and toxic technologies, that are exported from rich to poorer countries. Alternatively, we work to ensure national self-sufficiency in waste management through clean production and toxics use reductions and in support of the principle of global environmental justice -- where no peoples or environments are dispro-portionately poisoned and polluted due to the dictates of unbridled market forces and trade."

7/18/09 article from The Times [of London] on the problem of illegal e-waste trade and unsafe e-waste processing in Ghana. Article contains the following statistics: "Even in the European Union, which has some of the most stringent controls, an estimated 75 per cent of e-waste is unaccounted for. Most of this, an estimated 8.5 million tonnes a year, is believed to be finding its way to unofficial dumps in West Africa."

Basel Action Network (BAN) Toxic Trade News, 6/10/09. "The Environmental Protection Agency filed a legal Complaint and Compliance Order late last week against EarthEcycle, the electronic waste handler for several charity e-waste collection events held in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in recent days. Basel Action Network (BAN) tracked 7 sea-going containers of the collected toxic e-waste to Hong Kong and South Africa after assurances were made by EarthEcycle owner, Mr. Jeffrey Nixon, that the wastes would be recycled locally. The EPA complaint cites 7 violation counts for illegal management and exportation of 'Cathode Ray Tubes' - the picture tube of old computer monitors and TVs. The counts include 'unauthorized export of hazardous waste' and 'failure to prepare a hazardous waste manifest.'" Article also reports on the decision of certain charities to continue their fundraising relationships with EarthECycle despite allegations of illegal exportation of waste.

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an international organization created by Canada, Mexico and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The CEC was established to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. The Agreement complements the environmental provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This section of the CEC site provides information on environmental laws in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Today NextWorth, of Lawrence, Mass., which describes itself as a consumer electronics trade-in company, unveiled a program to receive old cell phones and other devices and pay out cash for them if they're still usable, or responsibly recycle them if they're not.

Sophie Gerrard photo essay with powerful images of illegal e-waste trade & processing in India.\n\nPossible item for "Media" resources or "Videos/Presentations" if we contact for permission.

CEH report, Oct. 2006. In the past few years, the storm of complaints about UNICOR's recycling program from prisoners, prison guards, and others has brought these hidden sweatshops into public view. Since 1994, UNICOR has built a lucrative business that employs prisoners to recycle electronic waste (e-waste). A massive array of ewaste is largely hidden from view, as are the workers who handle the waste. Over 100,000 computers become obsolete in the U.S. every day. E-waste includes computers, personal digital assistants, TVs, and other electronic devices. E-waste is a doubleedged sword: it is rich in precious materials that can be recycled, but it also contains a cocktail of hazardous chemicals such as lead, mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and cadmium. This report examines the e-waste recycling programs run by Federal Prison Industries (FPI), a government-owned corporation that does business under the trade name UNICOR.

Hewlett Packard (HP), in collaboration with the Global Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF), and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa), has launched a groundbreaking initiative to develop sustainable recycling processes to tackle the problem of e-waste in Africa. For the past two years, the initiative has been overseeing a pilot program facility in South Africa and conducting e-waste management assessment studies in both Kenya and Morocco; the goal of the assessments is ultimately to properly determine each country's ability to deal with the e-waste there, whether it arose from electronics that were purchased new within the country and are now reaching their end of life, or from electronics that were shipped illegally from other countries. The project has been examining efforts by both African governments and organizations to safely handle e-waste. The project has been compiling extensive information, such as the policy and legal framework in each country, standard settings for e-waste treatment, organizations and programs already in place to safely process e-waste, and the actual amounts of e-waste present. MediaGlobal article by Shefali Lall, 7/20/09.

A Monterey Park company has been caught by federal officials trying to send 32,000 pounds of hazardous waste from old televisions and computer monitors to China in violation of federal environmental regulations. The company, ZKW Trading, attempted to ship two 40-foot containers filled with cathode ray tubes (CRTs) - the video display parts from televisions and computer monitors that are high in lead content - to Hong Kong

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted in Basel, Switzerland on 22 March 1989. The Convention was initiated in response to numerous international scandals regarding hazardous waste trafficking that began to occur in the late 1980s. The Convention entered into force on 5 May 1992 and today has its Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. BAN web page. Includes country status table; text of the treaty in English, French & Spanish; Conference of the Parties Reports; Competent Authorities list; and a link to the Basel Secretariat.

Proceedings for the Institution of Civil Engineers, Municipal Engineer 162, June 2009, Issue ME2, pages 79-85. Written by J. Ye, S. Kayaga, & I. Smout. This paper provides a situational analysis and discusses the basic elements of the existing legislative framework for e-waste management in China. The paper concludes with an analysis of opportunities and challenges that exist in improving the enabling/regulatory environment for a hazardous but valuable commodity in a fast-growing economy.

Associated Press via Forbes, 6/9/09. The Wisconsin Senate has approved (23-10) a bill that would require electronics manufacturers to arrange for recycling of their products.Under Wisconsin's bill, dumping e-waste in landfills would be banned. Manufacturers would have to arrange to recycle 80 percent of the total weight of products they sold in the state in a given year. They also would have to pay up to $5,000 annually to register with state environmental officials.

One of the thorniest problems with Green IT is what to do with all the computers, monitors, hardware, and other electronics your company no longer needs. You may think that you've solved the problem by choosing a responsible recycler or asset management firm. But according to a recent 60 Minutes segment, that e-waste may end up in unregulated toxic waste dumps in China that foul the land, water, and air, cause cancers and miscarriages, and endanger children. Includes video of a 60 minutes segment following the illegal trail of e-waste from a recycler in Colorado to China. Article by Preston Gralla, Greener Computing, 11/19/08.

The WEEE Forum's set of remarks on the European Commission's Proposal for a recast of Directive 2002/96/EC on WEEE 24 April 2009. "In this paper, the WEEE Forum seeks to contribute, by providing both expert views and facts and figures, to the discussion on the recast of the Directive. The focus of this issue paper is the newly proposed collection targets and the requirement on member states to finance at least the costs of collection from collection facilities and the treatment, disposal and recovery of WEEE, and to encourage producers to take full ownership of the WEEE collection, in particular by financing the collection of WEEE throughout the whole waste chain including from private households."

The Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) promotes green design and responsible recycling in the electronics industry. Its goal is to protect the health and well being of electronics users, workers, and the communities where electronics are produced and discarded by requiring consumer electronics manufacturers and brand owners to take full responsibility for the life cycle of their products, through effective public policy requirements or enforceable agreements. ETBC plans to accomplish this goal by establishing extended producer responsibility (EPR) as the policy tool to promote sustainable production and consumption of consumer electronics (all products with a circuit board). The Campaign will focus first on establishing EPR for personal computers.