"A recently published report in the U.S. has challenged the widely held view that the developed world has been exporting much of its waste electronics to developing nations, with claims that 79% reported that their output was traded, sold and/or transferred within the U.S.” 

Meta-Actor: Journalism

Source Document: https://waste-management-world.com/a/e-waste-exports-an-inconvenient-truth

Date: February 28, 2012

________________

"Now, there is a bit of controversy about the amount of waste that is sent overseas; a survey of 5,200 U.S. companies published in February by the International Trade Commission reported that almost 83 percent of what was put into American recycling bins in 2011 was repaired, dismantled, or recycled domestically. 

Meta-Actor: Journalism

Source Document: http://news.thomasnet.com/imt/2013/08/06/new-e-waste-bill-seeks-to-cut-down-on-overseas-electronics-dumping

Date: August 6, 2013

________________

“According to Minter and USITC, somewhere between 83-93 percent of "of what was put into American recycling bins in 2011 was repaired, dismantled or recycled domestically" (Minter, 2013).  We are now confronted with a range more or less diametrically opposed to the range supported by BAN (50-80 percent exported). 

In contrast to the BAN report, the USITC document is at pains to demonstrate its methodological rigour. It has a chapter section (p. 1-7 --- 1-11) and at least four appendices (Appendices A, E, F, and H) devoted to describing its methods. These methods include a survey of businesses in the UEP business, the use of both public and confidential census data on exports of a variety of electronic products, a public hearing, visits to various types of facilities in the UEP sector (e.g., recycling plants, asset disposition firms, original equipment manufacturers), and a literature review that included BAN's (2002) report. All of these methodological approaches have their pros and cons and the report makes at least some of these explicit. It notes, for example, that several participants in the public hearing voiced concerns about a survey approach since they found it unlikely that respondents would accurately report export activity that might raise questions about its legality (see USITC, 2013: 1-8, footnote 28). Whatever the various shortcomings of these methods may be, the move made by the report is to make those shortcoming public and, in so doing, enhance the truth claims of the report.” 

Meta-Actor: Other

Source Document: http://scalar.usc.edu/works/reassembling-rubbish/mapping-e-waste-as-a-controversy-from-statements-to-debates

Date: January 5, 2014