Exporting Harm

Electronic waste or E-waste is the most rapidly growing waste problem in the world. It is a crisis of both quantity and a crisis born from toxic ingredients -- lead, beryllium, mercury, and cadmium that pose an occupational and environ'l. health threat. The U.S. and other rich economies that use most of the world's electronic products and generate most of the E-Waste, have exported the E-waste crisis to the developing countries of Asia. The open burning, acid baths and toxic dumping pour pollution into the land, air and water, and expose the poorer people of Asia to poison. The health and econ. costs of this trade are vast and are not born by the western consumers nor the waste brokers who benefit from the trade.

But, undeterred by the scientific evidence of the harm it does to human health, the asbestos industry, helped by the Canadian government, is pursuing the same strategy as the tobacco industry and is aggressively marketing asbestos to developing countries. [...] The unsavory tactics used by the Canadian government to promote the sale of Canada's asbestos include: • Giving millions of dollars of public funds to the Chrysotile Institute to promote asbestos sales in developing countries; • Disseminating misinformation about the hazards of asbestos in order to "manufacture uncertainty"; • Preventing people handling Canadian asbestos from being warned that it [...] Consequently, in that year, the Canadian government along with the Quebec government, the asbestos industry and Quebec unions, created the Asbestos Institute to improve sales opportunities by promoting the message that chrysotile asbestos is a safe and attractive product for developing countries. [...] But blow away the smoke... and the truth emerges for all to see: asbestos is deadly, there is no safe concentration of exposure identified, industry propaganda is unreliable and the continued use of chrysotile is unconscionable." 16 The Canadian government's misrepresentation of scientific information on the hazards of chrysotile asbestos to suit its political agenda paves the way for corrupt public [...] The director of the Institute, Nikolai Izmerov, was in fact the first president of the Russian Chrysotile Association, an industry lobby group and the Russian counterpart of the Chrysotile Institute, according to the BBC report.

A novel and ground-breaking analysis of the prosecution of environmental harm before the International Criminal Court, addressing both the substance and procedure.

Electronic Waste Management and Treatment Technology applies the latest research for designing waste treatment and disposal strategies. Written for researchers who are exploring this emerging topic, the book begins with a short, but rigorous, discussion of electric waste management that outlines common hazardous materials. such as mercury, lead, silver and flame-retardants. The book also discusses the fate of metals contained in waste electrical and electronic equipment in municipal waste treatment. Materials and methods for the remediation, recycling and treatment of plastic waste collected from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are also covered. Finally, the book covers the depollution benchmarks for capacitors, batteries and printed circuit boards from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and the recovery of waste printed circuit boards through pyrometallurgy. Describes depollution benchmarks for capacitors, batteries and printed wiring boards from waste electronics Covers metals contained in waste electrical and electronic equipment in municipal waste Provides tactics for the recycling of mixed plastic waste from electrical and electronic equipment

How the success and popularity of recycling has diverted attention from the steep environmental costs of manufacturing the goods we consume and discard. Recycling is widely celebrated as an environmental success story. The accomplishments of the recycling movement can be seen in municipal practice, a thriving private recycling industry, and widespread public support and participation. In the United States, more people recycle than vote. But, as Samantha MacBride points out in this book, the goals of recycling—saving the earth (and trees), conserving resources, and greening the economy—are still far from being realized. The vast majority of solid wastes are still burned or buried. MacBride argues that, since the emergence of the recycling movement in 1970, manufacturers of products that end up in waste have successfully prevented the implementation of more onerous, yet far more effective, forms of sustainable waste policy. Recycling as we know it today generates the illusion of progress while allowing industry to maintain the status quo and place responsibility on consumers and local government. MacBride offers a series of case studies in recycling that pose provocative questions about whether the current ways we deal with waste are really the best ways to bring about real sustainability and environmental justice. She does not aim to debunk or discourage recycling but to help us think beyond recycling as it is today.