Washington, DC, July 24, 2013
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/7/prweb10953271.htm
The Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER) endorsed the swift passage of the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (RERA), which was introduced to the House of Representatives on July 24th. The bill, introduced by U.S. Representatives Gene Green (D-TX) and Mike Thompson (D-CA), has thus far received bipartisan support. CAER leaders have argued that RERA will be essential for creating new jobs domestically as well as promoting investment in the U.S. recycling industry. In fact, according to a CAER study, a domestic recycling mandate could create up to 42,000 new jobs (21,000 jobs directly associated with domestic recycling, 21,000 indirectly associated) with a payroll of up to $1 billion.
If RERA passes, exports of potentially toxic electronic waste will be prohibited, therefore requiring responsible recycling within U.S. borders. Electronic waste contains high concentrations of toxic materials including lead and cadmium, and is currently classified as hazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Currently, a large percentage of e-Waste collected for recycling ends up being exported to developing countries where it is dismantled for the precious metals within the scrap, such as gold and silver. The dismantling is often carried out by children without regulations or proper protective gear.
The bill will not restrict the international trade of tested, functioning electronics. In fact, according to a U.S. International Trade Committee study, exports of commodity-grade electronics “would likely increase” as recycling activity increases within the United States and commodities derived from the used electronics “would be exported to manufacturing centers in non-OECD countries.” Bob Houghton of the CAER steering committee also added that under RERA, “developing nations can still get access to valuable, clean commodities without absorbing the hazardous materials they had no part in creating.”
Restricting e-Waste exports will also have an additional benefit of reducing data security risks. Companies that collect electronic waste frequently export the equipment without erasing data contained on hard drives, which has caused data breaches, identity theft, and other cyber-crimes. Exported e-Waste has also been a source of counterfeit components being recycled into critical applications such as military and industrial hardware. RERA will serve to eliminate these security threats.
In addition to bipartisan support, RERA has been championed by a number of groups representing electronics manufacturers such as HP, Dell, Apple, and major retailers such as Best Buy.