There are significant costs associated with the responsible disposal of E-Waste.
While many of the commodities culled from the dismantling of E-Scrap have
value in today's scrap markets, it 's a very labor intensive and costly process to
separate them into pure material streams here in the US. The American workforce deserves a living wage and safe working conditions.
Those valuable raw materials are co-mingled with hazardous materials that must be carefully extracted and processed by specialized federally licensed plants. Clean raw materials carry value. Poorly separated and contaminated materials do not. There can be no metal mixed in with the plastic, no aluminum mixed with steel, no hazardous material mixed with benign materials.
E-Steward, R2 and ISO certified companies have developed these competencies at great expense.
E-Steward, R2 and ISO certified processors must also operate in compliance with environmental and worker safety regulations in their daily operations, as well as in the long term.
File 13 offers low cost collection and E-Steward, R2 and ISO certified processing.
We make Responsible Electronics Recycling cost effective, so anyone can afford to do the right thing.
Why do some other companies export E-Waste to developing nations?
Because international scrap brokers bank on the nonexistent environmental standards and virtually free labor that developing nations offer. Profits first. Profits before people, profits before the planet.
In simpler times, this was referred to as GREED.
Why do some companies use prison labor for dismantling E-Waste?
Virtually free labor and lax environmental and worker safety standards. Again, profit before propriety.
We don't believe that profits trump social or environmental responsibility.
Business can be socially and environmentaly responsible and profitable.
