Responsible Recycling

Manufacturers Commitment to Responsible E-Waste Recycling

Sony Agrees to New Responsible Recycling Commitment

Sony Electronics USA has signed the Electronics TakeBack Coalition’s new “Manufacturers Commitment to Responsible E-Waste Recycling” a groundbreaking agreement stating that Sony will follow three important principles, that are too often ignored by many recyclers in the US, for handling the e-waste they collect for recycling:

1. No dumping toxic e-waste on developing countries
2. No use of prison labor in electronics recycling
3. No disposal of e-waste in landfills or incinerators, including waste-to-energy incinerators.

Sony is the first company to sign this Commitment. We are asking all electronics companies to follow Sony’s lead and sign this agreement.

>> See the text of the Manufacturers Commitment to Responsible E-Waste Recycling

Why are we asking companies to follow the Manufacturers Commitment to Responsible E-Waste Recycling?

Most U.S. electronics recyclers can make more money by using “low-road” strategies for handling the electronic products collected for “recycling” – including exporting them to developing countries, using captive prison labor to process e-waste, or even sending it to landfills or incinerators (here or in other countries). None of these are responsible recycling strategies, since they all can result in toxic contamination and exposure to the poor communities – here and overseas. Unfortunately, our federal government is part of the problem, rather than the solution – in fact they actively work against these three principles for responsible recycling.

Now that more electronics companies and retailers are launching electronics takeback and recycling programs (some voluntary, some because state laws require them to), we are stepping up our campaign to get these industry leaders, as global corporate citizens, to lead the way in making sure that their recyclers are not using low-road practices for handling the e-waste collected in their company programs.

How will we know if the companies are actually meeting this standard?
Our preference is that companies provide us with full transparency – disclosing who their recycling vendors are (including their downstream vendors) and the final disposition of these materials. Some companies will not disclose this for reasons they state as proprietary. We are also asking companies to include compliance with this agreement in their various audits.

Doesn’t the Federal Government Promote High Standards For Electronics Recycling?

No, in fact actions by the federal government actually promote low-road recycling. Here’s how:

• EPA Promotes Exporting E-waste: Through rulemaking, the EPA has weakened environmental laws on exporting hazardous waste, by creating numerous exemptions to export laws, allowing electronic waste to be exported without proper oversight and without consent of the receiving country.
• Federal Government Promotes Prison Recycling: The federal government promotes the use of prison labor by actually operating the prison recycling plants themselves and by being their biggest customer. (There are seven federal prisons with e-waste recycling plants.)The EPA continues to support these irresponsible actions in spite of the fact that prisoners and guards have protested the dangerous conditions.
• EPA Promotes Land filling and Incineration E-Waste: The EPA refuses to set regulatory standards that prohibit putting e-waste in landfills and incinerators. While the federal law says that CRTs shouldn’t go in landfills, the EPA rules exempt households and small businesses from this landfill ban.