export and prison labor: irresponsible recycling

Many e-waste “recyclers” increase their profits by exporting waste to developing nations. An estimated 50-80% of e-waste reported as recycled is exported around the globe.

Exported e-waste is dumped, burned, and “processed” under very crude conditions, which result in toxic exposure to workers and communities. Due to horrific working conditions and weak labor standards in many of the developing countries where e-waste is sent, women and children are often directly exposed to lead and other hazardous materials when dismantling the electronic products to recover valuable parts for resell.

In countries like China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Vietnam, recycling often means burning the plastics away from the metals and harvesting the scrap, releasing multiple toxins into the global atmosphere. In one Chinese e-waste scrap center, more than 80% of the children have lead poisoning. A recent CBS 60 Minutes report documented this shocking practice:

Learn more about exporting toxic e-waste and finding responsible recyclers.

Toxins make a global round trip

E-waste in China appears to be a source of the lead being used to make children’s jewelry. This is then exported back to the U.S., where it can poison our children at home. The Government Accountability Office, a watchdog of U.S. Congress, has released a report on exporting e-waste showing few controls on this practice exist. Even existing federal regulations on export go largely unenforced. Click here to read the GAO report!

Prison labor endangers workers and undercuts responsible recycling

Prison labor recycling is a taxpayer-subsidized practice that exposes prisoners, prison guards, staff and their families to dangerous levels of toxins. Because workers’ wages are so low (around $1.25 an hour), responsible free-market recyclers face unfair competition that undercuts their business.

Increasingly, U.S. e-waste is being sent to prisons in this country for recycling in factories run by UNICOR (or the “Federal Prison Industries”). There, prison inmates, guards and other employees are exposed to many hazardous chemicals, including lead and mercury.

Prison recycling workers report increased health problems, including “sinus problems, scratchy throats, headaches, unexplained fatigue, and burning skin, eyes, noses and throats.” Other inmates have complained that they are supplied with inadequate and unsafe equipment.

Fear over retaliation, harassment, and intimidation prevent inmates from voicing concerns regarding worker safety, and government monitoring agencies, such as OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) are unable to make true surprise visits to federal prisons.

The nation’s largest small-business advocacy group, the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), opposes the use of prison labor, as does the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Manufacturers Association.

Read the full report: "Toxic Sweatshops: How UNICOR Prison Rrecycling Harms Workers, Communities, the Environment, and the Recycling Industry"