A US bill to curb the dumping of electronic waste in the developing world has been proposed by Democrat politicians with support from large electronics groups.
Millions of tonnes of potentially hazardous ‘e-waste’ are exported to countries such as China and India. The Environment Protection Agency says e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the US but has no framework to control its export.
The Responsible Electronics Recycling Bill has been presented and is likely to be debated before the year is out. It already has the support of Apple, Dell, Samsung and other electronics companies.
Robert Houghton, of Redemtech, a US-based multinational that recovers and recycles computer materials, said: ‘The marketplace has rejected the practice of dumping e-waste on developing countries, but exporting instead of recycling is still common in our industry.’
Houghton added that exporters ‘are helping to poison workers in recycling sweatshops overseas’.
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