Exports

This story originally appeared in the August 2015 issue of E-Scrap News. Subscribe today for access to all print content. The fate of the world does not likely hinge on whether or not the dumping of electronic waste, depicted over the years by the Basel Action Network (BAN) and the many journalist

After a long-simmering defamation lawsuit was dismissed this month, the Basel Action Network has gone on the offensive. A report released by BAN today indicates Intercon Solutions, a Chicago-area processor that appears to be inactive, exported at least 167 containers of scrap material to Hong Kong and other Asian ports between 2010 and 2011.

The new allegations, which build on BAN's initial export charges against Intercon, suggest Intercon's activity was "likely in contravention of international, Chinese and U.S. law," the group claims.

The world's only remaining glass-to-glass recycling outlet for CRTs has idled its panel and funnel furnaces in Bharuch, India for "heavy maintenance" and stopped taking CRT glass from its U.S. partner, Cali Resources, E-Scrap News has learned.

The president of Cali Resources said any glass that would traditionally head to India is being processed in Mexico for a construction-products venture between Cali Resources and its partners.

A Michigan e-scrap broker is facing up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 after pleading guilty to smuggling CRTs and other used electronics abroad. In an agreement reached between the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) and Lip Bor Ng, also known as Paul Wu, Ng pleaded guilty to knowingly shipping containers of electronics labeled as plastics and metals to Hong Kong and China. "He falsely declared the commodities as plastic and metal scrap, when, in fact, they contained various types of used electronics and computer components, including cathode-ray tube (CRT) monit

A Spanish company supplying CRT glass to the European ceramics industry has been seeing glass tonnages from the U.S. steadily increase.

In an update sent to E-Scrap News, JJ Santos of Camacho Recycling says demand in the European ceramic tile industry for both panel and funnel glass is "increasing more and more."

Moreover, he expects Camacho will receive more than 67,000 tons of CRT glass from the U.S. in 2015. Glass tonnages, according to Santos, will also start arriving from Canada this month.

The Basel Action Network has announced support for a pair of initiatives that would pave the way for more exports of reusable electronics. In a Nov.

Another sentence has been handed out in the U.K.'s largest-ever bust of illegal e-scrap exports.

A British court ordered Terence Dugbo to pay roughly $141,000 in fees and penalties for his role in an effort that illegally sent scrap from the U.K. to Ghana, Nigeria and Pakistan. The U.K. Environment Agency in 2008 started a lengthy investigation into a large exporting scheme that to date has resulted in more than $486,000 in fines and a host of convictions.

A U.S. ban on the export of some types of e-scrap to developing countries could create as many as 42,000 new jobs — at least according to a new study commissioned by the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling.

The study, which was conducted by DSM Environmental Services, Inc., surveyed current CAER member companies and estimated employment at 6,850, with a payroll of approximately $250 million.

A relatively new organization calling itself the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling is urging Congress to pass the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act – and is specifically calling for restrictions on the export of electronic scrap to developing countries.

The CAER includes a growing roster of 29 U.S. electronics recycling firms, which operate 74 recycling facilities in 34 states, and includes a range of firms including refurbishers, scrap processors and refiners.

Two executives of a Colorado electronics recycling firm were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to allegations that it illegally exported over 100,000 end-of-life CRTs overseas. According to the indictment, between 2005 and 2009, Brandon Richter, owner and chief executive officer of Executive Recycling, and Tor Olson, its former vice president of operations, presented ER as a knowledgeable and responsible company that promised its clients it would dispose of their e-waste, including CRTs, in an environmentally-friendly manner, in accordance with local, state and