GAO Report on the EPA’s E-Waste Regulations and Enforcement

In this report from the U.S. General Accounting Office, the EPA’s policies and practices on keeping toxic e-waste from being exported to developing nations for disposal are scrutinized and criticized. The report finds that the federal governments regulations are thinly enforced, and that the EPA has no plans to begin enforcing regulations aimed at keeping toxic substances from electronics from leaving the U.S., where they are destined for developing nations and end up dramatically harming human health and the environment.

The report recommends steps that the EPA and federal government can take to improve the country’s processing and tracking of e-waste, suggesting that because the American public has embraced the reduce, reuse and recycle mantra of environmental stewardship, the government should do the same.