Why EPA is Globally Negligent on E-waste
13 April 2006 – The Basel Action Network (BAN) recently launched a "flyer" satirizing the EPA's "Pass it On" flyer for their Earth Day e-waste campaign. The satire is designed to make consumers and industry insiders aware of EPA's hypocrisy, "green-wash" tactics, and general negligence on environmental justice issues concerning electronic waste, or e-waste. In our view, it is clear that in terms of environmental protection on e-waste issues, our EPA has become far more a problem than a solution.
Just a few of our reasons:
- EPA refuses to support the ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment (already ratified by all of the European Union countries), together with the Basel Convention (already ratified by over 165 countries), that controls the export of hazardous wastes, such as e-wastes.
- EPA refuses to implement the existing 1986 OECD treaty governing the export of hazardous wastes, which would impose minimum OECD requirements on exporting states, such as informing recipient countries of the planned export, and receiving the latter's consent prior to exporting.
- EPA refuses to act to prevent the export of hazardous electronic wastes even to countries that have explicitly forbidden their export, such as China.
- EPA refuses to support US recycling and scrap industry efforts to raise the bar on standards for responsible management of e-waste, but instead wants to keep the export doors wide open for even hazardous waste disposal.
- EPA lobbies globally for removing any controls for exports of electronic waste that are claimed as destined for "reuse". Yet this is a glaring loophole already being exploited by hazardous waste exporters to trick customs agents and authorities from not applying the Basel Convention controls on hazardous waste dumping.
- EPA has lobbied in numerous private and public venues to press and ensure that e-wastes can move freely to prison labor operations and be exported without controls.
Please write or call EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson at johnson.stephen@epa.gov, 202-564-4700, to complain about these environmentally damaging and socially unjust policies.
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