[GRRN] Microsoft, E-Waste and the WTO

Ted Smith (tsmith@igc.org)
Thu, 02 Dec 1999 12:05:33 -0800


>Media Advisory -- Photos of E-Waste protest at Microsoft available on-line
>
>While many WTO protestors took to the streets of Seattle, the Clean
>Computer Campaign returned obsolete junk computers to Microsoft's
>headquarters with the message "Bill, Don't Let Them Trade Away Our
>Environment and Health."
>
>Photos of the action are available at=20
>
>http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/msact.htm
>
>
>Microsoft is one of the co-sponsors of the WTO Millenium Round meeting in
>Seattle and is also a key member of the American Electronics Association
>(AEA) which is currently lobbying against a European Union directive called
>the Waste from Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive (WEEE
>Directive). This directive, if fully enacted, would make producers of
>electronic equipment responsible for taking it back at the end of its
>useful life and properly recycling the components.
>
>Microsoft, Intel, IBM and other members of the AEA are working with the US
>Trade Representative to lobby against the WEEE Directive, claiming that it
>violates the WTO rules. =20
>
>In the meantime, mounds of electronic junk (E-Waste) continue to pile up,
>adding more toxic materials to our waste stream.=20
>
>The Clean Computer Campaign estimates that more than 315 million computers
>will become obsolete in the next few years, creating huge stockpiles of
>toxic E-Waste. If all this E-Waste were dumped into one place, it would
>fill an area the size of a football field and extend more than 1 mile high!
> More than 1 billion pounds of lead, 4 billion pounds of plastics, and
>millions of pounds of other highly toxic materials will be entering the
>waste stream as these computers become obsolete.
>
>For photo and additional background, visit the website of the Silicon
>Valley Toxics Coalition at=20
>
>http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/eccc.htm
>
>or call Ted Smith at (408) 287-6707.
>
>
>
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>Leslie Byster
>Program and Communications Director
>Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
>
Ted Smith
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
760 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95112
408-287-6707-phone
408-287-6771-fax
tsmith@igc.apc.org

>NOW AVAILABLE AT OUR WEBSITE -- New Series on E-Waste and Computer Junk
> http://www.svtc.org

Food for thought:

How Gandhi Defined the Seven Deadly Sins
=B7 Wealth without work
=B7 Pleasure without conscience
=B7 Knowledge without character
=B7 Commerce without morality
=B7 Science without humanity
=B7 Worship without sacrifice
=B7 Politics without principle