CROWN MANAGEMENT JAKARTA CAPITAL: Guilty verdict in electronic waste recycling case -is-ewaste-What-can-it-do-Is-it-hazardous-/

In the first case of its kind, a jury in Colorado has found an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling company and two of its executives guilty of illegally exporting e-waste overseas, in addition to other criminal charges. The implications of this case are broad and the convictions could serve as a catalyst for federal regulation of e-waste. recycling company

On September 15, 2011, a Grand Jury in the District of Colorado returned an indictment against Executive Recycling, Inc., an e-waste recycling company headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, and two of its executives citing a variety of charges including multiple counts of wire and mail fraud, failure to file a Notice of Intent to Export with the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), smuggling of goods from the United States, and destruction of records. (United States of America v. Executive Recycling, Inc., et al., Case 1:11-cr WJM, United States District Court for the District of Colorado.) Executive Recycling, Inc. collects e- waste from private households, businesses, and government entities.

The indictment alleged that the company represented on its website that it had “extensive knowledge of current EPA requirements” and that it would safely dispose collected e- waste within the United States. Instead, the company exported over 300 shipments of e-waste overseas, including more than 100,000 cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which are known to contain lead. “extensive knowledge of current EPA requirements

On December 21, 2012, after an 11-day trial, the jury rendered a guilty verdict on one count of illegal hazardous waste export, one count of failure to file a Notification of Intent to Export with EPA, and seven counts of wire fraud.

. The export and wire fraud counts each carry a maximum fine of US$500,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense; the failure to file count carries a maximum fine of US$50,000 per day of violation or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The jury also convicted two of the company’s executives on counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, illegal hazardous waste export, and the destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in a federal investigation. Sentencing is scheduled for April

Executive Recycling, Inc. was featured in a 2008 exposé on CBS’s “60 Minutes” news program on e-waste in developing countries. The “60 Minutes” episode focused on the environmental and health problems believed to be associated with the improper disposal of e-waste in China, Nigeria, and other countries lacking rigorous environmental regulations and enforcement.

E-waste contains hazardous substances such as lead, chromium, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). The “60 Minutes” episode showed workers dismantling discarded consumer electronics to reclaim valuable materials, such as lead, gold, and copper, from component parts. Unwanted components were