Government’s New Electronics Stewardship Strategy Not Strong Enough, Experts Say
On Wednesday, the U.S. government launched a new initiative to push for the responsible and sustainable management of electronic products — from greener design and greater energy efficiency for new products to the increased reuse and recycling of older electronics.
“This is an important effort at an important time,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said at a press conference Wednesday introducing the National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship. There are “serious health, environmental and economic consequences of inaction,” she warned.
However, some promoters of e-waste recycling don’t think the new federal efforts are enough, especially when it comes to keeping used and often hazardous electronics out of the hands of workers in developing countries.
Announced by Jackson along with other government and industry leaders at ROUND2, an electronics recycling center in Austin, Texas, the new strategy includes voluntary commitments from Dell Inc., Sprint and Sony Electronics to promote environmentally sound management of used electronics, including the expansion of product take-back agreements and assurance that the companies will only use certified recyclers such as ROUND2.
The plan, a collaborative effort that includes the EPA and the General Services Administration, which supplies office equipment and space to other federal agencies, also outlines some specific actions that will be taken by the government, including a movement towards ratifying the Basel Convention, an agreement among countries to control imports and exports of hazardous wastes.
But Barbara Kyle, national coordinator of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition in San Francisco, warned that complying with the convention doesn’t go far enough.
“They talk about ratifying the Basel Convention but don’t include the most important part: the amendment that says you can’t export hazardous waste to developing nations,” she added.
Source: Huffington Post
By Lynne Peeples