American Retroworks - Good Point Recycling

BBC Reporter @NavinSinghKhadk (X.com) returns with BBC to the tired narrative that garbage on the streets of cities like Lagos and Accra must have been shipped there by Western countries to avoid disposal fees. Pardon me for not sharing the link. See instead Emmanuel Nyaletey's 2021 presentation to the Northeast Recycling Council, which starts with a different hypothesis. If the first hydroelectric dam (Akosomba) in Ghana opened in the 1960s, and TV stations in the country followed, why is there so LITTLE e-waste at the Accra city dump? The answer is that Africa's savvy Tech Sector keeps the devices going, extending their product life through repair and third-hand reuse. There is no incentive for Africans to buy, import, pay customs duties, and dump e-waste for scrap metal value. In fact, Emmanuel said, "brand new" affordable electronic for sale in Africa are so cheaply made they are far more likely to be waste than the secondhand products he and his associates inspect and purchase. BBC needs to interview the falsely accused, or we will wind up with more Joseph "Hurricane" Bensons (who Emmanuel and I helped get released ten years ago after "Project Eden" accused him of buying "waste" electronics).

The images in this Wall Street Journal article on electronics recycling are very familiar to us in the business. But it's a rare opportunity for the public to see. Raw mined ore from hard rock mining has a fraction of the copper, aluminum, gold, palladium etc. that can be harvested from used electronics. The article - and recent and welcome books about hard-rock mining, fail to herald the chop-shop aftermarket parts side of the business. Shenzhen Chinese scrappers are GENIUSES at re-using individual chips from harvested boards at far more value than the metal. And that knowledge is now spreading across Africa. It's called the "informal sector" because the Western Spreadsheet forgot about parts harvesting. https://lnkd.in/eQBhyyr3

Gretchen Carey is speaking at the national Resource Recycling, Inc. conference in Louisville Kentucky about her great work with MassRecycle debunking false claims about recycling MYTHS. Her response to false claims about plastic recycling reached 1.5m and was reposted more than 4,000 times. Inspirational leadership!

I watched this because I like @BillMaher but his knowledge of plastic recycling is not knowledge. People who buy and import scrap plastic with their money do not then dump most of it in the ocean. Maybe you think they are stupid. Why? Read the Oregon DEP study on paper v. plastic.. and reusable plastic v. disposable lifecycle. https://lnkd.in/e8xfgZMd

Remember our old friend Yaro? He was pictured in @washingtonpost at #Agbogbloshie, identified as a boy of 15 (he was 24 at the time in 2015). After our visit he left Agbogbloshie to return home to the north with his family. I try to stay in touch with the "objects" of #photojournalism, had a nice video chat w/ him and his sister. He's now in plastic litter recycling. And no... the plastic is not shipped to Africa from Western countries. Hundreds of millions of beverages are consumed there every day, and Africans generate it just like they did the e-waste in Agbogbloshie 10 years ago. We are promoting plastic litter "offsets" to collect even more plastic scrap in the Global South. With the blockchain tracking tech being developed at OBADA.io we should eliminate double counting and other claims of "greenwashing", so men like Yaro can earn a decent living making the world better. https://lnkd.in/euKhu3KW

Very proud of the Team at Good Point Recycling, who are receiving an Outstanding Member Award at the Northeast Recycling Council's Fall Conference in Syracuse NY next week. And congrats as well to Chittenden Solid Waste District, Helpsy, and the Town of Woodbury - it's a honor to share the recognition with you. As Good Point Recycling celebrates our 25th anniversary, our hard-working staff allow me time to go to conferences like these, network, and contribute. I will be thanking everyone on our team for keeping up with our clients' recycling needs while I enjoy another NERC gathering of recycling and reuse experts. https://lnkd.in/eCWHnhKx

You cannot be an expert in e-waste without knowing about electricity growth and consumption. World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other Development Banks have been gathering data on electricity consumption per capita, and per capita growth, for more than 50 years. The question is why there is so little e-Waste in African cities, and the answer is the number of repair shops per square kilometer. And those statistics are the only explanation for growth in electricity consumption. Photojournalism is precious, but datajournalism makes more sense. https://lnkd.in/e6FifffN

Great presentation by author and journalist Adam Minter (Secondhand, Junkyard Planet) at convocation at my Minnesota Alma Mater, Carleton College. Who knew Star Wars was about Electronics Recycling?

The USA EPA CRT Rule of 2007 has been unfairly criticized and used as a scapegoat by regulators who overlooked the clearly defined "speculative accumulation" limited, CONDITIONAL, exemption. Yes, reuse was exempt, and yes, processed CRT glass meeting "furnace-ready cullet" standards was also exempt. However, both were ONLY exempt on the condition that 75% of the material was processed or moved within a calendar year. Failures like the Closed Loop disaster (where materials were parked indefinitely or landfilled) were blatantly out of compliance by the second year. Those responsible—including landlords, suppliers, certification bodies, and regulators— ignored or failed to enforce this simple conditional exemption. After two years, accumulated CRT glass should have been classified as hazardous waste, akin to Universal Waste Rule (UWR) standards. In many cases, accumulation lasted 5-6 years! During which time, the below cost actors failed to pay rent, which should have been a hint not to issue certifications, permits, and extended leases. Now, some of those same voices are advising the EPA not to apply the conditional exemption to used solar panels, which could result in similar mismanagement. Can someone please share the link to submit comments to the Federal Register on this issue?