Nov 11, 2008 8:30 am US/Mountain
E-Waste Company Takes Issue With 60 Minutes Report
DENVER (CBS4) ―
The owner of Executive Recycling in Englewood called a 60 Minutes report on the company Sunday night "absolutely unfair."
The CBS News program reported that it tracked a shipping container from Executive Recycling to Hong Kong apparently filled with used monitors. The report discussed how so-called e-waste from the United States was allegedly being shipped to China where it was broken down under conditions that were leading to pollution and health problems.
Executive Recycling blames the shipping "mistake" on a Canadian-based wholesale buyer who Executive Recycling says "forged the company's letterhead on packing lists" in an effort to illegally dump the computer screens and "shift blame" to the recycling company.
Executive Recycling also sent CBS4 a copy of a Sept. 18 EPA inspection citing "no violations" and "a clean bill of health" from the state of Colorado.
The company called the negative publicity "a smear campaign led by competitors" like Denver-based Guaranteed Recycling Experts (GRX).
GRX denies it is involved, but admits working with the Basel Action Network, or BAN, which participated in the 60 Minutes story.
BAN announced Monday it will create a third-party certification program for e-waste recyclers. The E-steward certification program claims to be the first independently audited and accredited electronic waste recycling certification program.
Executive Recycling and its owner did not respond directly to the final part of the 60 Minutes report Sunday. The federal Government Accountability Office set up a sting in which U.S. investigators posed as foreign importers.
Executive Recycling offered to sell 1,500 CRT computer monitors and 1,200 CRT televisions to the GAO's fictitious broker in Hong Kong, according to 60 Minutes. The GAO report found that another 42 American companies were willing to do the same.
Executive Recycling said it has stopped working with wholesale buyers until it can be sure its waste is not getting dumped illegally.
Additional Resources:Read Executive Recycling's Statement Regarding 60 Minutes Story
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