Environment and Energy Daily - Electronic Waste: Lawmakers tout new measures as good for job creation, environment
In their latest sales pitch, the two congressmen are touting their bill as more than just a landmark effort to crack down on the exportation of dangerous e-waste to developing countries. Amid a tough domestic economy they are also calling the legislation a "jobs bill" that will promote American recycling and help U.S. businesses compete with overseas competitors who have few labor and environmental standards when it comes to recycling.
The bill would create a new section of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to prohibit the export of electronic equipment that contains dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. The bill would require U.S. EPA to set those toxic chemical limits. By keeping the particularly dangerous e-waste from being shipped overseas it would force waste producers to send those items to recycling facilities in the United States.
"Each year, millions of tons of electronics equipment are discarded in the U.S. and shipped to developing nations for unsafe salvage and recovery," Thompson said in a news release yesterday. "By carefully regulating the export of e-waste, this bipartisan legislation takes concrete steps to address a growing environmental and health crisis while creating good-paying recycling jobs here in the U.S."
In introducing the bill this time around, Green and Thompson have signed on Republican Reps. Steve LaTourette of Ohio and Lee Terry of Nebraska to co-sponsor their legislation, and a companion bill was also dropped in the Senate yesterday with the support of Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).
Murkowski is particularly keen on a provision to create Rare Earth Materials Recycling Research Initiative at the Department of Energy. Experts have called for stepped up government efforts to study the recycling of rare earths elements and other materials important to U.S. innovation, as an added safeguard from potential shortages.
Yesterday the Natural Resources Defense Council and several other e-waste watchdog groups praised the bill for trying to end the toxic exposures that can come when e-waste is dumped on primitive recycling operations in countries like China, India, Nigeria and Ghana.
"The states have been passing laws that are already increasing the amount of e-waste collected for recycling, instead of land-filling," said Kate Sinding, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Unfortunately, these laws can't stop recyclers from simply sending our e-waste -- and our jobs -- to developing nations where improper handling threatens health and the environment. But Congress can."
Thompson and Green's bill is not without its critics, however.
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries believes the bill will hurt developing nations by stunting markets and shutting down their efforts to develop safe and responsible recycling infrastructure.
"Illegal polluters anywhere in the world -- in developed and developing countries -- should be put out of business," said Eric Harris, ISRI director of international and government relations. "What some policymakers fail to understand is that most of the used electronics being generated and recycled in developing countries originate in that country, not from U.S. exports. For that very reason, stopping the export of end-of-life electronics from the United States will do nothing to solve the underlying problem of bad actors polluting the environment and instead will block positive efforts currently being undertaken by the U.S. recycling industry to promote and support developing countries in their efforts to build environmentally responsible and sustainable economies."
While EPA is charged with regulating the management of used electronics that qualify as hazardous waste and promoting voluntary recycling efforts among electronics manufacturers and other stakeholders, a Government Accountability Office report from July 2010 found that a comprehensive national approach is lacking. As such, the report states, a growing number of states have enacted electronics recycling laws, raising concerns about a patchwork of state requirements.
The White House has taken up the cause, forming a task force to come up with a plan for ensuring that the government leads the way in recycling its electronic waste. The federal government is a major contributor to the estimated 400 million units of electronics that are scrapped each year in the United States.
But the task force's report has now been delayed for nearly two months.
"To ensure comprehensive review of recommendations for federal e-waste initiatives, the task force extended its time frame to complete the report," said Sahar Wali, a spokeswoman for the Council on Environmental Quality, which is helping to coordinate the effort. "Work is currently under way to finalize the report and we are looking forward to releasing it soon."
Insiders on Capitol Hill say they are hopeful the report will be released by mid-July.