BAN Teams-Up with Dell to Track Electronic Waste

June 19, 2018. Seattle, WA. Austin, TX. Basel Action Network (BAN) has teamed up with Dell to use GPS trackers to verify where used Dell electronic scrap goes once it is collected from Dell’s U.S. consumer takeback programs. In this pilot project, announced today in Dell's 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Dell will be sending 40 electronic devices containing hidden trackers into their U.S. consumer disposition stream. Of these, 30 will be arranged by Dell and 10 provided to BAN to deploy independently. All of this is being done to see if things end up where they are supposed to -- in accordance with the law and Dell's strict no-export of e-waste policy. 

This unique collaboration marks the start of BAN's new commercial EarthEye™ tracking service, which will be launched this week and is open to all companies and institutions. BAN has been developing the use of GPS trackers for the last decade, originally working with MIT's SenseAble Cities Labs to follow cathode ray tubes into China from the US via hidden smuggling routes from Vietnam. Today, with major programs conducted in Europe, North America, and in cooperation with the United Nations in the Asia-Pacific Region BAN is the global leader in tracking pathways of electronic waste.

Chris Brandt of BAN's EarthEye program installing a tracker in a printer. Chris recently spent two days in Austin, installing EarthEye trackers for Dell Computers. Copyright BAN.

The inspiration for the Dell and BAN collaboration stems from BAN’s GPS tracking studies conducted two years ago. In 2016 as part of BAN's e-Trash Transparency Project BAN published a report entitled: "Disconnect: Goodwill and Dell, Exporting the Public's e-Waste to Developing Countries”. Today, the two organizations announced that they are working together to solve the problems identified in that report, and to explore ways to improve accountability in waste management.  

"Given some lemons, Dell chose to make some lemonade," said Jim Puckett executive director of BAN. "We applaud Dell for their desire to step up and work with us to proactively get ahead of potential downstream accountability issues and to take action. In just a few days, we will be inviting all major corporations and institutions to do the same." 

Stay tuned for the launch of BAN's EarthEye service the morning of June 21st.

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For more information contact: 

Jim Puckett, Executive Director of Basel Action Network,
email: jpuckett@ban.org,
phone: +1 (206) 652-5555
 

About Basel Action Network 

Founded in 1997, the Basel Action Network is a 501(c)3 charitable organization of the United States, based in Seattle, WA. BAN is the world's only organization focused on confronting the global environmental justice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade and its devastating impacts. Today, BAN serves as the information clearinghouse on the subject of waste trade for journalists, academics, and the general public. Through its investigations, BAN uncovered the tragedy of hazardous electronic waste dumping in developing countries. For more information, see www.BAN.org.