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Basel Action Network Tests Northwest E-Cycle Programs
1 Min Read
Basel Action Network (BAN), a Seattle-based nonprofit that works to prevent the globalization of the toxic chemical crisis, recently found that the Northwest’s biggest green-certified handler of old electronics had been exporting LCD monitors with mercury to unregulated facilities.
Recently, BAN teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to add 200 geolocating tracking devices inside old computers, TVs and printers to follow what happens to the items when they drop them off at environmentally friendly donation centers, recyclers and electronic takeback programs.
Oregon Public Broadcasting highlights these findings:
When Washington state inspectors visited the Seattle recycling operation Total Reclaim in March, they found several problems with its handling of hazardous waste. They missed the biggest one.
They discovered an improperly labeled trash can full of shop towels. They noted Total Reclaim’s failure to check a box on a form identifying itself as a recycler of dangerous waste. They found open buckets full of oil.
What they didn’t find was evidence that the Northwest’s biggest green-certified handler of old electronics had been exporting LCD monitors containing mercury to unregulated facilities.
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