According to a report from the Congressional Research Service, electronic waste ends up being exported overseas because of high domestic processing costs, even though the impacts of overseas processing can be wanting.
The report, Managing Electronics Waste: Issues with Exporting E-Waste, finds that, due to "limited domestic infrastructure and high demand abroad," as well as the complicated nature of processing e-scrap, "a recycler may find it more profitable simply to send all of the e-waste it collects abroad."
Bemoaning a lack of available timely, accurate data on how much electronic scrap is generated, processed domestically or exported, the report concludes without recommending a sole course of action. Instead, it predicts that the current situation is likely to continue without greater recycling infrastructure in the U.S. or significant barriers to export.
At several points, the report notes the irony that fears of environmental contamination from landfilling computer equipment has led to some real-life environmental contamination in crude electronics processing facilities in developing countries.
"An unintended consequence of avoiding potential [italics from report] negative impacts of domestic e-waste disposal has been a contribution to actual environmental contamination and human health impacts to some communities in developing countries," according to the report.
Source: e-Scrap News, Electronic Newsletter 30 Oct 2009
