[GreenYes] GRRN Targets 2002 Consumer Electronics Show

["David Wood" <david@grrn.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact in Las Vegas: David Wood, GRRN Program Director
       608-347-7043 (cell); david@grrn.org

TODAY'S INNOVATIONS ARE TOMORROW'S HIGH TECH TRASH
CES showcases the new, but what are consumers supposed to do with the
old?

Las Vegas: America’ sea of high-tech trash swelled today as millions of
consumer electronics devices were made obsolete by innovations unveiled
at the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention
Center.

       “Discarded electronic equipment is one of the fastest growing and
most highly toxic waste streams in the industrialized world,” says David
Wood, Program Director of the GrassRoots Recycling Network (“GRRN”) and
organizing director of the national Computer TakeBack Campaign. “The
rapid pace of product development in consumer electronics has a dark
side, which is rapid obsolescence and a failure on the part of industry
to take responsibility for goods at the end of their useful lives,”
continues Wood, who is at CES distributing educational materials and
speaking with industry reps.
       
       Personal computers, TVs, and other consumer electronic devices
contain materials which are harmful to the environment, including lead,
mercury, cadmium, PVC plastics and dioxin-like flame retardants used to
treat plastic casings. When consumer electronics are not properly
disposed these materials may be released into the environment, posing
threats to human health.
       
       “The Computer TakeBack Campaign is building pressure on the
consumer electronics industry to take responsibility for the full life
cycle of their products, including phase out of hazardous materials,
product take back and end-of-life management,” says Wood. “The industry
is best positioned to correct the problems created by their design and
marketing strategies.”
       
       “At present, local governments and taxpayers shoulder almost the
entire burden of managing electronic discards,” says Ted Smith,
Executive Director of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and coordinator of
the Computer TakeBack Campaign. “Public policy and corporate practice
must embrace extended producer responsibility (“EPR”), through which
manufacturers and brand owners bear full responsibility. Japan and
countries in Europe are tackling their e-waste problems with EPR; the
U.S. must act to end the global double standard.”
       
	“CES showcases what’s new for consumers; our national campaign
will showcase what’s next,” says Wood.

       The Campaign involves dozens of organizations and local
governments across the country. Read the campaign’s platform at
www.grrn.org.


David Wood, Program Director
GrassRoots Recycling Network
5610 Dorsett Drive
Madison  WI  53711-3402
david@grrn.org
www.grrn.org
608-270-0940
608-347-7043 (cell)
----------------
If you are not for Zero Waste, how much waste are you for?


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