Faced With a Global Environmental Threat, Local Grassroots Organizers are Getting Results

TV zombies protest Panasonic

In 2002, the Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based non-profit, released a report and documentary called "Exporting Harm: The High Tech Trashing of Asia" that exposed the shameful truth about the fate of obsolete electronic waste: many so-called "recyclers" are shipping our old PCs, TVs and other gadgets to poor communities in developing nations overseas. Images of crude scrap operations contaminating entire villages with an array of toxins (such as lead and mercury) shocked citizens and recycling advocates alike.

Now, six years later, a report published by the Government Accountability Office reaches the same conclusions -- a toxic flood of U.S. e-waste is being dumped on the global poor in Southeast Asia and Africa. The watchdog group for Congress documented how the few laws that are in place to stem the flow are not enforced well by our own U.S. EPA. While this report is certainly discouraging, there is an inspiring story to be told about the enormous progress that has been made in the past several years on the issues surrounding electronic waste and recycling.

This is a story about people and organizations of all types and sizes coming together to make an impact on a global environmental health and justice threat. The international movement pushing for a cleaner high-tech industry has come to Houston -- so you can plug in and get involved today.

Despite its image of a new, clean industry free from smokestacks, high-tech has its own pollution problems. Silicon Valley is home to more hyper-polluted toxic waste sites per capita on the Superfund list than any other area in the nation. Electronic waste already makes up the majority of heavy metals (such as lead or mercury) going to our nation's landfills. Electronics contain many other toxic metals and chemicals. One such family of chemicals, brominated flame retardants, are now present in mother's milk samples and meat and dairy products in Texas supermarkets, at levels shown to cause serious health problems in animal tests.

In the industry's heart, the non-profit Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has been pushing electronics manufacturers to reduce harmful pollution for over 25 years. This group is among the leaders of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, along with: Basel Action Network (Seattle), Clean Production Action (NY, MA, Montreal), Center for Environmental Health (Oakland), Clean Water Action (nationwide) and Texas Campaign for the Environment (Austin, Dallas, Houston).

Since 2002, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition has been at the forefront of efforts to create a more sustainable electronics industry and can count many successes just in the past few years. Essential to its first major victory was the advocacy group Texas Campaign for the Environment. Starting in 2002, TCE organized high-profile demonstrations, public pressure and door-to-door grassroots support to convince computer giant Dell to offer free, responsible recycling for all its products -- worldwide. Even today no other high-tech firm offers such a comprehensive recycling program.

Texas Campaign for the Environment and the Coalition applied similar pressure next on Apple. Despite the presence of Vice President Al Gore or their board of directors, Apple lagged behind its competitors or environmental issues. With help from international pressure, the Coalition launched its “Green My Apple” campaign in 2004. The result: Apple now offers recycling programs and has began phasing out some of the most harmful chemicals and metals used in its products. Importantly, Apple and many other high-tech firms also dropped their opposition to legislation requiring all manufacturers to provide recycling. Transforming from adversaries to partners, Dell, HP and Texas Campaign for the Environment joined to pass such legislation in Texas in 2007.
Passing such "Producer TakeBack" laws, state-by-state, has been another success story for the Coalition. These laws have been on the books in the European Union since 2002. In 2004, Maine was the first U.S. state to hold manufacturers accountable for recycling. There are now 16 states with similar laws, plus New York City. Progress is accelerating: nine Producer TakeBack laws have passed in 2008 alone, and nine more are currently under consideration.

Unfortunately, the Texas legislation doesn't cover televisions, and most TV makers do not offer free nation-wide recycling. With the fast-approaching switch to Digital TV in 2009, Texas Campaign for the Environment and the Coalition have been pressuring TV manufacturers to change their policies for the better. In 2007, Sony became the first to respond. The company forged a partnership with Houston-based Waste Management to provide drop-off locations for TVs, Walkmans, Playstations, or any other Sony product. In 2008, LG/Zenith and Samsung have also announced free recycling programs. In fact, the industry coalition (dominated by TV makers) that previously lobbied fiercely against Producer TakeBack legislation has now dissolved, marking a sea change within the industry.

The idea and successful push to hold manufacturers responsible for taking back their products is nothing short of a revolution in the recycling movement. Instead of creating government-run (and funded) programs, making producers responsible means they have a profit motive to design electronics without toxic materials and create products that are more easily recycled. When the manufacturer is responsible for the entire life cycle of its products, it pays to reduce waste, phase out toxins, and redesign products with recycling in mind. This also forces the manufacturers to ensure that their products are really recycled responsibly, since their brand names and reputations are at risk if they are caught exporting e-waste overseas. A true long-term solution, Producer TakeBack uses market forces to drive the entire industry toward sustainability -- and it can be applied to more than just electronics.

Many obstacles remain, but the momentum is clear. Houston Congress member Gene Green has introduced a resolution (HR 1395) as a first step toward halting the export of toxic e-waste abroad; Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown has introduced its Senate companion (SR 663) as well. Texas counts more co-sponsors of the House Resolution than every state save California.

Texas' computer recycling law is underway; you can visit www.texasrecyclescomputers.org and www.texastakeback.org for recycling information. The public pressure campaign to tell TV manufacturers to "Take Back My TV" continues, and you can help hold their feet to the fire by visiting www.takebackmytv.com.

Texas Campaign for the Environment has re-opened its office in Houston after a long absence. With offices in Austin and Dallas as well, TCE is building the community-based support needed to influence local, state and national lawmakers, as well as the public pressure needed to convince CEOs to change corporate policy. The success of its campaign rests with its year-round grassroots organizing efforts, meaning you'll see them out on the streets in your neighborhoods. When they pay you a visit, they hope you'll become another person who is part of the solution.

Zac Trahan
Houston Program Director
Texas Campaign for the Environment
3100 Richmond #290
Houston, TX 77098
713-337-4192
www.texasenvironment.org