Fake Recycling Events in Pittsburgh Uncovered

EarthECycle Exports Humane Society’s Techno-Trash to China and Africa
Seattle, WA. May 26, 2009. EarthECycle, the electronic waste handler for two recent Humane Society charity e-waste collection events held in the Pittsburgh area, did not recycle the collected e-waste as claimed, but instead crammed the collected techno-trash into at least 7 sea-going containers and exported it to developing countries. Despite assurances made by

EarthECycle owner Mr. Jeffrey Nixon, in a Pittsburgh press conference held with Western Pennsylvania Humane Society Executive Director Ms. Lee Nesler and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato in March, that all recycling would be done locally, the global pollution watchdog group Basel Action Network (BAN) proved otherwise. BAN followed the trucks, to two area warehouses and then some days later observed the waste being reloaded onto 40 foot ocean-going containers. They then tracked 6 of the containers to Hong Kong and one to South Africa. BAN has warned authorities about their imminent arrival and actions are now underway to halt and return the shipments. “Sadly, once again the American public appears to have been duped by a fake recycler and become the unwitting accomplice in what is really an international crime,” said BAN e-Stewardship Director Sarah Westervelt. “People think they are doing a good deed helping animals, and that their old stuff is getting recycled safely but the reality is that this is a scam.” In 2002 and 2005, BAN released two documentary films “Exporting Harm” and “The Digital Dump” shining a spotlight on the horrors of the global e-waste trade and its very damaging impacts of toxic constituents in electronic products on the workers and environments of communities in Africa and China. Recent studies in Guiyu, China, “ground zero” of the international waste trade, and where much of the Humane Society collection waste was likely to have ended up, show some of the highest levels of dioxin, lead and other cancer-causing pollutants ever recorded. Blood levels in 80 percent of the children in Guiyu are elevated and already demonstrable brain impairment has been recorded.

Last fall BAN was featured in a CBS “60 Minutes” episode when they exposed a Colorado recycler now under investigation by US EPA. While exporting most e-waste remains legal in the United States, the export of cathode ray tubes (CRTs), found in old computer monitors and TVs, without notification and consent from the importing countries is illegal under US law. BAN has photographs showing CRTs inside the containers. Even when the exports are not illegal under US law, they are likely to be illegal in the countries of import.After BAN warned importing country governments of the Humane Society/EarthECycle waste, Hong Kong authorities took immediate action and asked the shipping company to return the containers to sender. Five of the six Hong Kong bound containers, three of which were expected to be trans-shipped to Vietnam, have so far been intercepted and returned to EarthECycle. The shipment to South Africa is due to arrive in the port of Durban today.* BAN, together with the Electronics

TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) is seeking national legislation** to ban the export of toxic e-waste to developing countries as European countries have already done. And BAN has created the e-Stewards Initiative – a list of responsible e-cyclers*** that have agreed not to export hazardous e-wastes to developing countries. “This toxic trade is the height of global irresponsibility,” said
Sarah Westervelt. “Our country must pass loophole-free federal legislation to put a stop to what happened in Pittsburg and what is happening all over America every day.” said Sarah Westervelt. “And, consumers must be very careful and make use of the e-Steward recyclers who have agreed not to export toxic e-waste to developing countries.”EarthECycle promises charities up to $10,000 for every 100,000 pounds of e-waste collected. The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society event was thought to have collected 150,000 pounds of e-waste from the public. It is not known whether the charity ever got paid. Meanwhile EarthECycle appears to be hiring organizers all over the country to create a large nationwide e-waste network to “partner” with other charities in other cities and collect more of the public’s accumulating mountains of techno-trash.

Photos, research and documentation available.
Research Report: “The EarthECycle Pittsburgh Recycling Scam” is available at: www.ban.org/Library/PittsburghScam.pdf
Photographs available at: www.ban.org/photogallery and others upon request.

*BAN warned the following officials: In South Africa, Ms. Nolwazi Cobbinah Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Tel: (+27 12) 310 3356, e-mail: ncobbinah@deat.gov.za. In Hong Kong, Mr. Gary Tam of the Environmental Protection Department. E-Mail: garytam@epd.gov.hk.

**A bill introduced last week by Congressman Thompson and Green, is unfortunately insupportable as it allows a massive loophole for exports claimed to be sent for “reuse”, a common ruse of unscrupulous exporters.

***For a list of e-Steward Recyclers including Pittsburgh area recyclers visit: www.e-Stewards.org

Computers for Irish Schools needs more donations

Since we launched Computers for Irish Schools (CFIS) in January 2009, we have lots of schools registering to receive IT Equipment. We have been delighted with the amount of interest generated by schools and by companies wishing to donate equipment.

With more and more schools registering every day, we need more companies to sign up to enable us to meet the demand for IT Equipment.

If you have been putting off the decision to dispose of your old IT equipment due to the economic downturn, why not make a positive decision and donate them to schools in Ireland.
In the next 5 years, over 1 million working computers will be disposed of in Ireland. With a bit of TLC many computers sent for recycling can be refurbished to a high enough spec to enable them to be used again, especially for the type of applications used in primary and secondary schools

Extending the useful life of IT equipment being replaced by Irish companies and other organisations and placing more computers into classrooms, gives Irish students more opportunities to learn about computers and new technology, which will allow them to develop the skills needed to thrive in a knowledge-based economy.

For the same cost as recycling your old IT Equipment, CFIS will refurbish any computers and monitors that meet our specifications requirement and donate them to schools around Ireland with no cost to the schools.

To protect donors data and environmental responsibilities, all hard drives are securely wiped using U.S Department of Defence approved software and when the equipment is either obsolete or the schools no longer need it, CFIS will have it recycled in the normal way at no cost to the school

Not everything is about money and turnover - doing something that makes us and others feel good is something money can’t buy!

Logon to http://www.cfis.ie/ or call us on 01 864 2773

Expansion of Irish ACA Scheme to Encourage Purchase of Energy Efficient Equipment

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has announced details of four new categories to come under the Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA).

The scheme encourages businesses to purchase energy efficient equipment by allowing them to write-off the entire cost of the purchase for one year against taxable income.

The new equipment categories include -
Information & Communications Technology (ICT)
Heating and Electricity Provision
Process and Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) Control Systems - and
Electric and Alternative Fuel Vehicles.

The announcement of the expansion of the scheme was made by SEI at the 2nd day of the Energy Show at the RDS in Dublin. Submissions from manufacturers and suppliers of products in these new categories are now invited and can be submitted to SEI via its website (Click Here) for inclusion in the list of qualifying equipment.

Brian Motherway, Head of Industry, SEI said - “There are now more than 4,000 products qualifying for these tax incentives and today’s announcement will see this number increase in the coming months. In these difficult times, the savings available through purchasing more energy efficient equipment are very important and these new tax incentives will make the cost of such equipment more affordable. We also welcome the inclusion of electric and alternative fuel vehicles, which is a strong signal of Ireland’s intent to be a global leader in this area.”

Under the ACA, a company with €100,000 profit purchasing capital equipment worth €20,000, will save €2,500 on its tax bill.

Existing ACA categories include -
Motors & Drives
Lighting
Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS).

For full details of the new ACA equipment categories and the Energy Efficient Transport Guide -
Click Here