Greenpeace has just released a new report regarding the enormous amount of e-waste being sent to Ghana, located in Western Africa. The militant environmental group compared Ghana to India and China, where working conditions allow children to be exposed to toxic chemicals such as lead and mercury during the treatment of the electronics. The purpose of treating, or burning electronics is to salvage copper and other valuable materials which can be sold for profit. Greenpeace continues to urge major electronics manufacturers such as Sharp and Philips to decrease and eventually phase out toxic materials in their products and to launch global ... Full Story

Waste from electrical or electronic sources is known internationally as e-waste, also known as WEEE. As the technology market continues to grow, so does the amount of waste and scrap material being generated. This is causing a severe problem due to the amount of toxic chemicals involved in the production of computers, laptops, monitors, and so forth. Disposal of these items is also problematic and many recycling laws have come into effect to curb or prevent used computers from being sent to landfill, either at home or abroad. Many companies have been accused of sending their e-waste to countries such as ... Full Story

Wincanton, a logistics firm, has started working on its second UK WEEE recycling plant. The £5 million site's plans went before council in March, showing that the new facility would have the ability to process up to 100,000 tonnes of electronic and electrical waste per year. The new facility will be located in Daventry in Northamptonshire. Wincanton's first UK site which opened in 2006 is located in Billingham, Teeside. The work at the Daventry site will begin with administrative and warehousing facilities. Building areas for equipment and other sites will take place in October 2008. Wincanton has projected that it will be able to ... Full Story

LG, U.S. based manufacturer of electronics, has announced a nationwide electronics recycling program designed to give customers a convenient way to recycle old and unwanted consumer electronics products including TVs, computers, computer monitors and more. LG has joined forces with WM Recycle America, a subsidiary of Waste Management, which it has recently opened 106 recycling locations throughout the U.S. The company plans to have operational recycling sites in every state by September. "Our program encourages consumers to dispose of unwanted electronics in an environmentally responsible manner," stated Teddy Hwang, LG Electronics USA president. Hwang referred to the LG Electronics Recycling Program as a ... Full Story

A recent report released by the Wall Street Journal declared e-waste "the world's fastest growing and potentially most dangerous waste problem".  E-waste applies to a wide variety of electronics from televisions, to old game systems, to computers, and monitors. Recently, there has been a large focus on recycling computer monitors due to the amount of lead and other toxins that are present in the units. They also contain cathode ray tubes, which can be found in televisions. When it comes to recycling CPUs, many people are afraid that hackers and identity thieves will obtain their information. Even if the data is ... Full Story

Recycling e-waste is becoming big business. While the intentions are good and the schemes are getting better, there are still a lot of variables involved with individual company's techniques and methods. IDC, a technology research firm, hopes to create a little more uniformity in e-waste disposal and has set up a certification programme to grade individual U.S. companies on their methods. Companies targeted by IDC include scrap collectors, computer makers, and recycling and waste disposal operations. The programme introduced by IDC is called G.R.A.D.E. or the Green Recycling and Asset Disposal for the Enterprise Certification. Thus far, five companies have qualified for ... Full Story

At long last, all WEEE producer compliance schemes for 2007 are now believed to have sufficient evidence to meet required obligations. The information has yet to be verified before compliance is confirmed. If the data is confirmed, civic amenity sites and local authorities should be eligible to receive the outstanding funds they are owed for services provided during the 2007 compliance period. While the issues surrounding the 2007 compliance period have been effectively dealt with, concerns remain that next year will see a recurring problem. Edward Cooke, of producer compliance scheme WeeeLink, said that the potential for recurring problems could undermine the ... Full Story

The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. has announced its choice of Redemtech, a world leader in IT asset disposition and Technology Change Management services to handle its electronic waste initiatives. Redemtech will be responsible for developing and managing the company's "comprehensive asset recovery and disposition program designed to keep PBG electronic equipment from entering the waste stream". "With e-waste becoming an increasingly important environmental issue, more companies today are realizing they can be part of the solution rather than the problem," said Robert Houghton, president and CEO of Redemtech. "The Pepsi Bottling Group has demonstrated a serious commitment to promoting environmental sustainability ... Full Story

It's a new term to many people - a "green copyright". According to a recent Bill C-61, a new bill being introduced into the Canadian government, makes moves toward establishing new boundaries regarding the reuse of electronics. If the bill is approved, it would prohibit the unlocking of mobile phones, forcing many consumers to toss out their old phones should they choose to switch providers. It has been estimated that Canadians discard 184,000 tonnes of computers, mobile phones, and ink cartridges each year. To combat the waste, the Ontario government recently joined several other provinces in instituting a new electronic waste ... Full Story

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is still discussing its recent approval of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) programme, "an industry-developed plan under the Waste Diversion Act that aims to reduce e-waste across the province by placing financial responsibility on the companies who produce it". The Ministry reports that currently, a mere 27% of e-waste in Ontario is currently reused or recycled. The new WEEE plan aims to raise this number to 61% by 2014. To assist with the goal, the Ministry will increase drop off locations from 167 to 420 across the province. The Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES) is ... Full Story

Ontario's new recycling fees are the talk of the town. , Premier Dalton McGuinty supports the levy as a way to deal with the excessive amount of e-waste. "Right now, on an annual basis, we're taking tons and tons of electronic waste ... and putting it into our landfill sites," McGuinty told reporters in Welland, Ont. "Ontarians need to understand this: We can keep doing what we've done (but) I don't think it's fair to our kids. It's certainly not fair to our grandchildren," he said. "We've got to take some responsibility to deal with this and we can create some jobs at ... Full Story

John S. Shegerian, Chairman and CEO of Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), has been featured in a series of interviews and short films created by VideoJug. The videos, placed online at MSN's Nine Network in Australia and MSN Singapore, show Shegerian explaining electronic waste. More specifically, what it is, why it is an environmentally dangerous, and the steps involved in proper disposal. Electronic Recyclers International headquartered in Fresno, California, is the largest recycler of electronic waste in the world. The company is licensed to de-manufacture and recycle computer monitors, computers, televisions, and other types of e-waste. ERI has the ability to process ... Full Story