Urgent action is needed to tackle the "mountains" of e-waste building up in developing nations, says a UN report. The report gathered information about current levels of e-waste in 11 nations and also looked at how those totals might grow in the next decade. Globally, e-waste is growing at a rate of about 40 million tonnes per year as consumers, in both developed and developing nations, buy new gadgets and discard their old ones. Read the BBC News article here.
Dallas-Fort Worth post offices slowly offering recycling bins
Recycling can save companies money, especially large entities like the postal service that deal with tons of paper, said Jeffrey Jacoby, program director with the Texas Campaign for the Environment.(Dallas Morning News)
Green Tech Gone Fake
Reused electronics may be good for the environment, but they are feeding the counterfeit tech industry and poisoning some foreign workers. (Business Week)
Expert: Reducing waste can help bottom line
Toyota Motor Corp. and Hewlett Packard have reduced their costs by instituting recycling programs and reusing materials they previously discarded after a single use. (San Diego Daily Transcript)
Silicon Sweatshops: Another black eye for Apple supplier
Workers at the factory suffered nerve and muscle damage after working with the toxic chemical hexane to clean component touch screens for electronic products. (GlobalPost)
HP Strengthens their Export Policy HP announced a strong policy to prohibit their recycling vendors from sending toxic electronic waste to developing countries. Texans sent thousands of letters to HP to request this action. Thanks to you TCE supporters, the nation's biggest selling computer company is fully on board. Read more.
Runoff Election Near: Are You Registered to Vote?
March 15th is the deadline to register to vote for the Primary Runoff Election set for April 13th. Are you registered to vote at your current address? Click here to find out, or to update your registration. Democracy works when people participate!
Legislative scorecard: how did your elected officials vote on e-waste?
New environmental scorecard uses two electronic waste recycling votes to grade state legislators. Click here to see the Texas League of Conservation Voters 2009 Legislative Scorecard.
More Americans recycle than vote, but in many Texas communities recycling is lagging in part because some landfill operators cut corners and undercut recycling programs. In addition, too few products are designed for recycling. Requiring manufacturers to take back their products at the end of their useful lives will provide a bottom line incentive to reduce toxins and design products for recycling. read more
