The Afterlife of Electronics: What really happens to e-waste
In Colorado, efforts to recycle or resell computers can lead to unintended consequences, including export to third-world wastelands or dumping in landfills closer to home. Murky and sometimes unenforced state and federal e-waste laws add to the problem.
Overview
A six-month I-News Network investigation has found that what really happens to Colorado’s rising mountain of electronic waste is not what you thought:
An auction of surplus state government property, including a large allotment of computers and other electronic devices.
- Some recyclers simply export containers full of electronics, in apparent violation of U.S. and foreign law, and with potentially devastating environmental and health consequences.
- In back yards and garages in Colorado, some hobbyists use the same dangerous e-waste mining methods that have caused environmental problems in developing countries. Their small operations were previously unknown to regulators.
- Government auctions feed into the dangerous global trade in e-waste, as well as into local landfills and unregulated backyard recycling operations in Colorado.
- State laws and regulations are confusing at best and sometimes seem to do the opposite of what was intended.
There are so many unknowns in the resale and recycling of Colorado’s used electronics that much of the state’s e-waste simply disappears, with no documented trace of where it ends up, or what the hazards might be. Most of it still winds up in local dumps, some experts believe. Read a one-story overview of the entire e-waste package…
Day One
Day 1: E-Waste Laws Across the Country
Main Story – In Colorado, efforts to recycle or resell computers can lead to unintended consequences, including export to third-world wastelands or landfills closer to home. Murky and sometimes unenforced state and federal e-waste laws add to the problem. We start at a local community recycling event, then follow e-waste from that recycler’s warehouse all the way to Hong Kong.
By Kristin Jones/I-News Network
Nidal Allis scanned the horizon.
Under a brilliant blue sky, hundreds of cars flowed through a suburban Denver parking lot last April. An army of cheerful volunteers unloaded a steady stream of dusty laptops, monitors and keyboards for a recycling event in honor of Earth Day.
The young, barrel-chested president of TechnoRescue had contracted to take the material, promising that the old equipment would go to a better place.
“We’re not the typical recycler where you will take the electronics and scrap them, or ship them overseas,” said Allis, warning of faraway digital dumping grounds.
The recycling event looked like the perfect picture of environmental responsibility.
And maybe it was. But fast-forward from TechnoRescue’s Earth Day event to this July, when an I-News camera found workers at the company’s Commerce City facility loading CRT monitors – short for cathode ray tube – into a shipping container. I-News tracked it to Hong Kong, where the government has banned the import of toxic e-waste, but the underground trade persists. Continue reading…
VIDEO: An entertaining and evocative look at what really happens to your e-waste.
TWEET KIT: I-News makes social media easy! Here are ready-made Tweets so you can launch a social media and audience interaction effort. Instructions included, plus Tweets for each day of the project.
GRAPHIC: An interactive US map of e-waste laws nationwide:
Day Two
By Kristin Jones/I-News Network
Your computer’s toxic partsIn Colorado, government auctions are feeding the global trade in e-waste. State agencies are avoiding hazardous waste regulations by selling junk computers and other electronics at surplus auctions. While some working or repairable electronics went to homes and businesses that needed them, I-News found that others ended up in landfills, risky backyard recycling operations, and illegal trade to developing countries. Read more…
Read this day’s INFO BOX and watch the Day Two Video
Day Three
By Kristin Jones/I-News Network
Bryan Smith’s homemade furnace didn’t look like much parked in the driveway of his well-kept suburban Denver neighborhood. An unassuming metal washtub packed with brick and cement, it didn’t seem like the kind of thing that could turn junk into gold.
Meet David Emslie. In a rental space north of Fort Collins, Emslie uses a highly potent acid solution known as aqua regia to make e-waste into jewelry. His refining operationis no secret; he advertises online. But when told of his practices, several local and national watchdogs were shocked.
Nearby, the stage was set. On a picnic table, Smith had lined up old computer processors and motherboards, mined from Colorado’s river of trashed gadgets. A beaker of acid persuaded flecks of gold to flee from circuit board fingers into a smelly, greenish mix.
His college-aged daughter stood by, ready to pump oxygen into the propane.
“What do you call people who do this?” Smith asked her. A tall, kindly man with a flop of gray hair, he could be called a lot of things: Alchemist, tinkerer, modern-day prospector.
“Crazy?” his daughter offered, then flipped the switch. Read more…
Info Box: What is e-waste? Colorado’s e-waste law is so complex, even the regulators are confused. We sort it out.
VIDEO: Backyard recycling, with homemade furnaces and beakers of acid
Day Four
VIDEO: Sara’s old electronics are stacking up. If yours are, too, here’s what to do.
By Kristin Jones/I-News Network
It’s an extreme case. But Sara Heinz’s problem may sound familiar to anyone who has ever bought a newer, faster, slicker gadget. She has too many old computers. For residents like Heinz, the good news is that there are more options than ever for Coloradans hoping to recycle their electronics responsibly. There’s a catch, though. Even some responsible operations struggle to handle risks to workers and the environment. I-News walks you through the maze. Read more…
Info Box: What to ask before you recycle your electronics.
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