Fake Electronics Recycling in Massachusetts
Indonesia Rejects Nine Shipping Containers from Brockton "Recycler"
In February 2010, the government of Indonesia turned back nine containers full of cathode ray tube TVs and monitors sent from CRT Recycling, Inc of Brockton, MA. CRT Recycling collects TVs and monitors for free from cities, towns, and schools across Massachusetts.
The Indonesian government acted after ETBC partner group the Basel Action Network (BAN) witnessed the containers being loaded in November 2009. When the containers arrived in February, Indonesia seized the containers, inspected them, and ordered them returned to the United States. They would have been an illegal import of hazardous waste into Indonesia, so they were rejected.
Export Used EPA-Registered Broker
CRT Recycling utilized a waste broker, Advanced Global Technologies Inc., of Burbank, CA, to handle the shipping of the containers. Advanced Global Technologies is listed on an official EPA website as being an EPA registered e-waste exporter. Under the CRT rule, the EPA requires two different kinds of protocols for CRT exports, one for CRTs exported for "recycling" and another for CRTs exported for "reuse." If the CRTs would have been exported for recycling, the exporter would have had to ask the EPA to request permission from the government of Indonesia to import the containers. But this export was made as "for reuse" which does not require a notice and consent procedure. Exports of CRTs in the name of reuse require the exporting company to merely file a one-time notice with the EPA, stating that they are exporting for reuse. No approval process is required.
BAN Tracked Containers to Indonesia
In this case, BAN volunteers staked out CRT Recycling Incorporated in Brockton, Massachusetts, a company that takes thousands of monitors every year from local schools and governments who unwittingly believe their old computers and monitors will legally and properly recycled. BAN photographed a container in the CRT Recycling, Inc. yard being loaded with cathode ray tube (CRT) computer monitors. Using container numbers and online shipping company databases, they were able to track the container and its ship to the port of Semarang, Indonesia. In November of 2009, BAN contacted the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and warned them of the ship’s imminent arrival and the hazardous wastes it carried.
Indonesian authorities then seized the container and found it to be part of a consignment of 9 such containers coming from CRT Recycling, Inc. These were opened and confirmed to be stacked full of untested, used computer monitors -- each containing several pounds of lead and other hazardous substances -- thus making them an internationally defined hazardous waste and therefore illegal to import into Indonesia. All 9 containers were then returned to the US. The containers arrived in Boston port in early February and detained at the Boston Freight Terminal with a deadline to clear customs by February 28th. CRT Recycling, Inc. has stated that they will turn the CRTs over to RMG Enterprises, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, for further processing. The EPA is expected to inspect the containers upon arrival.
Read the press release from the Basel Action Network (BAN).
Boston Globe:
Old TVs spark environmental dispute
Indonesia rejects Brockton shipment
By Beth Daley, March 2, 2010
Environmental Leader:
Indonesia Turns Back E-Waste Shipment from MA Recycler
March 2, 2010
