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By Aaron Corvin, The News Tribune

SEATTLE, Washington, 25 February 2002 -- Environmental report: Seattle-based group finds workers dismantling 'recycled' computers, discarding parts in fields

That computer you gave away for recycling may have added to pollution overseas instead of finding new life as parts in another machine.

That's the gist of a new report that a coalition of international environmental organizations compiled, led by the Seattle-based nonprofit Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange. The coalition released its report today.

"Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia" is based on a three-day investigation conducted in China in December 2001. In the town of Guiyu, a four-hour drive northeast of Hong Kong, a small group of activists found more than 100,000 migrant workers with little or no environmental protection crudely dismantling computers and related equipment and dumping the waste into open fields, along riverbanks and in rivers.

Based on labels and maintenance stickers, activists said, most of the computer equipment came from the United States, with some originating from Japan, South Korea and Europe.

Activists said the computer industry needs to design computers to exclude potentially toxic materials, and the United States should act to ban the export of computer waste.

"The recycling industry has not been too interested in finding out what happens to the computers," said Dave Batker, a Tacoma resident and director of Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange. "We need to take care of our waste responsibly."

Local government officials and business owners say they're doing the best they can to recycle computers domestically, especially considering the lack of official programs.

"Electronics recycling is new," said Al Tebaldi, manager of the solid waste division of the Tacoma Public Works Department. "The waste industry is trying to work with manufacturers on product stewardship."

There is no program for recycling computers in Tacoma and Pierce County, Tebaldi said, but the city is planning to launch a countywide pilot program in May to serve residents.

The program may expand to include businesses, Tebaldi said, depending on how successful it is.

Gene Martin of AllTech Computer Solutions in Federal Way accepts used computer equipment as part of King County's computer recycling program. In some cases, Martin said, he refurbishes and resells the computer equipment. If it can't be fixed, Martin said, he tries to find someone who can recycle it.

"If I can't find somebody who will recycle it, I won't accept it," he said.

In China, the small group of activists conducted interviews, shot video and took spot soil and water samples to document the environmental damage in the town and vicinity of Guiyu.

They documented workers dismantling printers and opening ink cartridges with screwdrivers.

"The process created constant clouds of toner that billowed around the workers and was routinely inhaled," according to the report.

Workers also stripped and burned circuit boards.

"Whole riverbanks were seen full of charred circuit boards reduced to blackened fiberglass," the report said.

Sediment and water samples taken at places where workers processed equipment showed alarming levels of metals most commonly found in computers. For example, tin was found at levels 152 times the threshold set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according the report.

"There are villagers living in burn yards, children running around the burn yards and the fish ponds next door are contaminated," said Jim Puckett, coordinator of the Basel Action Network, one of the organizations involved in the investigation. "Nobody ever bothered to determine the fate of this offshore recycling."

Some computer companies offer recycling services. IBM, for example, offers a personal computer recycling program to consumers and small businesses.

The program will either recycle computer equipment or refurbish it and arrange for its donation to Gifts in Kind International, an Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit that encourages companies to donate their products to charity.

However, Puckett said, U.S. environmental policy has neglected to deal with the problem comprehensively. There are few reliable domestic computer recycling programs.

"There aren't good choices now," he said. "My advice is to hang on to (your computer) because there isn't a good solution yet."

* Reach staff writer Aaron Corvin

at 253-946-3498 or aaron.corvin@ mail.tribnet.com.

© The News Tribune 02/25/2002