TCE activists unveiled an over-sized “Responsible Recycling Mid-Term Report Card” to the state environmental agency on its proposed guidelines for implementing the new Computer TakeBack Recycling Law. Then the three commissioners of the agency extended the public comment period, in order to adopt mandatory, not voluntary, standards on how ewaste will be handled.
Click here to urge the agency to pass strong standards!
Click here to read our press release.
Consumers International (London) has launched a campaign to end the illegal dumping of e-scrap in West Africa
According to the release, Nigeria receives 500,000 PCs monthly, of which only 25 percent are working. The remaining 75 percent are relegated to landfill and crude metal-recovery workshops — where peripherals and circuit boards are set afire on the ground, and the resultant metals are picked out of the pile of dirt and melted plastic. (Click here to watch the new video Hidden Flow). (E-Scrap News)
E-waste recycling faces challenges, critics say
Many devices are dismantled overseas using crude and unsafe methods, experts tell U.S. house panel Many discarded electronic devices in the U.S. wind up being dismantled overseas using crude and unsafe methods, partly because of a lack of markets for some electronic materials, e-waste experts told a congressional committee today. (Computerworld)
Recycling Electronics Can Put a Dent in Pollution
When you buy a new computer and bring it home, you take it out of the box, proudly position it in on your desk and plug it in. Then you look down at the old computer on the floor and ask: What do I do with it? (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Countdown to Contamination?
On Feb. 17 2009, the switch to digital TV signals could send millions of old TVs to landfills and dumps across the world. Join the campaign to urge television manufacturers to take back their old TVs for responsible recycling! Click here to take action.
Central Texas Residents: Join the Race to Zero Waste!
We encourage you to challenge yourself, your family, your school, your business, your church, or neighborhood to find creative ways to reduce your waste. The contest, complete with celebrity judges and great prizes, is open to all residents.
Click here for details!
Click here for the Austin American-Statesman's Editorial
New Videos Highlight Toxins in Consumer Products, Unsustainable Design and Cell Phone Waste. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our wasteful production and consumption patterns. The Secret Life of Cell Phones documents the fate of the millions of phones discarded every year. Enjoy, and pass along!
More Americans recycle than vote, but in many Texas communities recycling is lagging in part because some landfill operators cut corners and undercut recycling programs. In addition, too few products are designed for recycling. Requiring manufacturers to take back their products at the end of their useful lives will provide a bottom line incentive to reduce toxins and design products for recycling. read more
