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This page is dedicated to those suffering from eWaste exportation and those working to stop the exportation of eWaste
Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, has been on a quest for sustainability for nearly 28 years. The Basel Action network seeks to promote a world free of toxic substances where everyone has access to a clean environment. Over the last couple decades, the world has begun to face a problem that has never been seen before: toxic waste needing to be disposed of, en masse. While disposing of traditional waste is nothing new, not only is the quantity of waste increasing to levels never seen before, but electronic waste has begun to accumulate. eWaste is much harder to dispose of than traditional waste because of the complexity of the products and the materials involved. Many computer components are composed of toxic chemicals such as mercury and lead, as well as plastic which is notoriously hard to recycle. As a result, many companies and corporations ship their waste overseas to countries that dispose of it in ways that harm their people and the environment.
In 2015, BAN started another round of their signature eWaste investigations. The Basel Action network had become infamous at this point for their methods, hiding GPS trackers in eWaste given to various recycling companies. BAN can then track where the eWaste ends up, and if it is shipped overseas, they can confront the company. Puckett calls them “little lie detectors.” The 2015 experiment started like many others, this time sending a monitor bugged with a GPS tracker to a company in Oregon. The monitor made its way to Seattle and, staggeringly, to a man made island shortly off the coast. From there it was shipped overseas to Hong Kong. The BAN team thought they had unmasked another random eWaste firm, but they noticed something when looking at the recycling plant through Google Earth. “Total Reclaim” was stamped on the front of the recycling center. Total Reclaim, a company that claimed to responsibly recycle eWaste domestically in the United States and was run by Puckett’s personal friends, was shipping eWaste out of the country. Previously, Total Reclaim had been recommended as the “ poster child of the good guys” for responsibly recycling eWaste, and had made millions from BAN’s recommendations. Outraged, Puckett confronted Total Reclaim founders Craig Lorch and Jeff Zirkle.
“From the very beginning, when they first signed the pledge with us, they had been lying to us”
Upon hearing the accusations, Lorch and Zirkle were “shocked”, and insisted there was a mixup, providing a shipping record showing they hadn’t shipped any eWaste overseas. Despite this, Puckett gathered a team and departed for Hong Kong. After convincing some recycling plants to let them search with the promise of buying some of their waste, Total Reclaim’s logo was found plastered over shipping crates and boxes. “From the very beginning, when they first signed the pledge with us, [Total Reclaim] has been lying to us.” said Puckett shortly after the incriminating evidence had been discovered.
Total Reclaim admitted to some of the guilt shortly after BAN’s findings, but they were still taken to various court cases. Washington state and Oregon both launched investigations and cases that lost BAN around a Million dollars, but the real consequences of Total Reclaim’s actions were made apparent during the national court case. Puckett mentioned that Total Reclaim “have committed criminal acts that damaged the Earth, and made serious victims of innocent people”, and the assistant US Attorney, Seth Wilkinson, described the case as being an environmental issue rather than one of fraud. Wilkinson explained that “In short, Lorch and Zirkle made a calculated decision to prioritize their own profits over the safety of the foreign workers they were hired to protect,” when talking about the victims of the dumping of eWaste on other countries. Despite this, during the trial, Puckett and BAN were alone in the accusation process, as Total Reclaim had industry friends vouching for their integrity at every turn. Against all odds, the judge agreed with BAN on the basis that if the harmful chemicals Total Reclaim was exporting, such as mercury, were being handled the same way in the United States, there would be a “national outcry”. Lorch and Zirkle were each sentenced for 28 months in prison.
“It is certain that the victims are left just as dead as if they were shot by a gun” - Seth Wilkinson
Guardian graphic. Source: Holes in the Circular Economy: WEEE Leakage from Europe
One company in the United States is only just the beginning. While America may recieve a lot of the blame for being the inventor or many modern technologies, as well as home to companies such as Apple, Google, FaceBook etc, many other first world countries export just as much eWaste as The United States. Out of the entire European Union, the United Kingdom was reportedly the most harmful illegal exporter eWaste, with numerous shipments slipping through the cracks to end up in countries such as Nigeria, Pakistanm and Tanzania. These countries end up with not only a significant negative impact on their economy as they are baited into taking what is advertised as free electronic devices, but also the health of the people who work directly with the waste suffers.
BAN. “Largest e-Recycling Fraud in U.S. History Sends Owners of Kent Firm to Prison.” Basel Action Network, Basel Action Network, 26 Apr. 2019, www.ban.org/news/2019/4/24/httpswwwseattletimescombusinesslargest-e-recycling-fraud-in-u-s-history-sends-owners-of-kent-firm-to-prison
Lecher, Colin. “American Trash.” The Verge, The Verge, 4 Dec. 2019, www.theverge.com/2019/12/4/20992240/e-waste-recycling-electronic-basel-convention-crime-total-reclaim-fraud.
Campbell, Katie, and Ken Christensen. “Where Does America's e-Waste End up? GPS Tracker Tells All.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 10 May 2016, www.pbs.org/newshour/science/america-e-waste-gps-tracker-tells-all-earthfix#fn1
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