Oddly enough, I just write a piece for this blog a few days ago, Building A Greenwash Crisis Plan, looks like Executive Recycling could use one. The 60 minutes report last night, The Electronic Wasteland, uh…certainly gave them cause to need one!
This is a bit of a chilling tale for any eco entrepreneur! Executive Recycling, a small Colorado based, e-waste recycling center, was founded by Brandon Richter in 2004 with high hopes to provide a green solution to a growing problem. As he put it:
You think that you are doing good sending your computers to a recycling company.. but that is not exactly the case.. “Your e-waste is recycled properly, right here in the U.S. – not simply dumped on somebody else.”
I’m going to give Richter the benefit of the doubt here. When the dreaded call from 60 minutes came (You all know the joke don’t’ you? “What are the 5 most dreaded words a CEO can hear? “This is 60 Minutes calling.”) Richter gladly agreed to help them and gave them access to his records.
Things obviously didn’t turn out so well, since 60 Minutes found that containers of used monitors left his facility and were shipped overseas, ending up contributing to the virtual destruction of a town in China that dismantles all kinds of e-waste. A snip from the broadcast transcript…
And Brandon Richter, CEO of Executive Recycling, was still warning of the dangers of shipping waste to China. “I just heard actually a child actually died over there breaking this material down, just getting all these toxins,” he said.
Then Pelley told him we’d tracked his container to Hong Kong.
“This is a photograph from your yard, the Executive Recycling yard,” Pelley told Richter, showing him a photo we’d taken of a shipping container in his yard. “We followed this container to Hong Kong.”
“Okay,” Richter replied.
“And I wonder why that would be?” Pelley asked.
“Hmm. I have no clue,” Richter said.
“The Hong Kong customs people opened the container…and found it full of CRT screens which, as you probably know, is illegal to export to Hong Kong,” Pelley said.
“Yeah, yep,” Richter replied. “I don’t know if that container was filled with glass. I doubt it was. We don’t fill glass, CRT glass in those containers.”
“This container was in your yard, filled with CRT screens, and exported to Hong Kong, which probably wouldn’t be legal,” Pelley said.
“No, absolutely not. Yeah,” Richter said.
“Can you explain that?” Pelley asked.
“Yeah, it’s not – it was not filled in our facility,” Richter said.
Richter then went on to make things worse – becoming defensive.
“I know this is your job,” Richter told Pelley. “But, unfortunately, you know, when you attack small business owners like this and you don’t have all your facts straight, it’s unfortunate, you know?”
What happened here? It seems Richter really wasn’t aware of what was happening in his facility. What can he do now?
Well, this morning they put out a press release. (update: link to press release is down try here) Seems like a good start, but still a wee bit defensive. Let’s go back to my recommendations.
You probably will have to do some things that aren’t green, but try to do as few as possible.
Be honest with your customer’s about the things you don’t do green and tell them why
Be vigilant! Make every one of your employees the “green police”. Set up a feedback system so they can tell you what’s not eco and let them give suggestions on how to fix it.
Get your customers involved. Set up a greenwatch page on your web site. Solicit ideas from your customers.
Continuous Improvement. Keep customers informed about your efforts to continually go greener.
What other suggestions do you have? Mr Richter- if you’re reading – let us know what you think!
Update: the link to the press release on the Executive Recycling Site no longer works…hmmm…but, I found the text here. So read away and let us know what you think!
I don’t believe the press release from Executive Recycling. Why would they load the CRTs into overseas shipping containers? They may thing lying is not a crime. If so they can make that argument from prison.
I would suggest he shut down and let someone who actually cares about the environment do the work. His greed is obvious. I actually hope he goes to jail for fraud.
Brandon Richter should go to jail. Plain and simple.
It seems that Executive Recycling’s posted News releases on their website cannot be opened today. I wonder why?
Checked the news release- you’re right- I can’t get it to open either- though i did first thing this morning- perhaps they are rethinking their response?
Does no one believe that Richter honestly didn’t know what was going on? Then why agree to cooperate?
I’m going to go ahead and guess that he didn’t think they’d be able to trace all the activity. Most criminals aren’t as smart as they think they are…
the title of this blog is interesting though – I dont’ think this is a case where someone needs greenwashing crisis management – this is just plain fraud. His business does exactly the opposite of what it says it does.
Anyone have the text of the Press Release, I would like to hear what he had to say, I say the piece last night on 60 Minutes.
Tom
Sorry for my typo, last part should be “I saw the piece last night on 60 minutes, and I forgot the question mark on “Anyone have the text?”
Tom
I have the text! Please see the updated post for a new link!
and here is the text in full of Executive Recycling’s response in case it disappears from another site:
Response From ER to 60 Minutes Piece– Press Release
Executive Recycling is a respected and law abiding business that recycles computers and electronic parts in a responsible and lawful way. Our company has reviewed the recent report of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the 60 Minutes story on E-Waste and we agree on the dangers of unregulated disposal of electronic and computer waste.
Executive Recycling is well aware of every applicable environmental and export standard and has complied throughout its history with such laws, rules and regulations. Our company takes in tons of computer and electronic products and disposes of them responsibly. Many such items are refurbished and resold.
The company would not sell anything to any purchaser if it had knowledge that said buyer planned to break the law. However, no business can be responsible for the subsequent improper actions of others who lawfully purchase products from them and hide their intentions to engage in misconduct.
Sadly, Executive Recycling appears now to be the victim of others who have obtained electronic and computer products from our company and then acted irresponsibly.
These buyers apparently sought to hide their own misconduct by leaving the impression that their shipment was the responsibility of our company. We have discovered that forged documents (provided by the port authorities) were used to improperly shift blame to us when ER sold the tested working units to a Canadian wholesale buyer. We are currently seeking legal actions against this one wholesale buyer in regards to this report.
Executive Recycling worked for the past two months with 60 Minutes regarding this investigation and provided 5 container numbers and bill of ladens for one Basel Action Network member who has signed the pledge and which states on their website “we will not engage in the exporting or dumping of e-waste, or in the use of prison labor in our recycling processes” – Denver Based Company.
Executive Recycling urges the Environmental Protection Agency and the government of the United States and other civilized societies to prepare and enact further laws and regulations to make sure that no individuals or environments are damaged through irresponsible disposal of computer or electronic products. Executive Recycling has cooperated with the Environmental Protection Agency in the past and will continue to do so in an effort to see that humans and the environment are protected.
OK, I found the link at the end of the story. His explantion sounds plausible enough, I guess the truth will probably come out eventually (hopefully!)
Tom
You have to believe that there are 2 sides to each story, I personally called and spoke with Executive Recycling, and after them sharing there side of the story I’m convinced they got the raw end of the deal. Call them if you have a question.. 303-791-0808
I tend to agree, expose- which is really why every green entrepreneur needs a greenwash crisis plan because no matter how you try…these things happen!
60 Minutes terrifies me. If they had me under their spotlight I can imagine babbling like an idiot and saying anything they wanted me to – these guys are tough. I don’t think they are always objective – they’re after headlines and coverage for their egos and their advertisers: and look! With this story, they’ve gotten it. It’s on my blog and many others today. But while I really want to give Brandon Richter the benefit of the doubt, he IS the bottom line as far as responsibility goes. Did he know about it? Hard to tell. But it’s still his company. Any environmentally-based company worth its salt should be constantly on the lookout for potential problems. The “victim” claim seems pretty weak, and a cop-out to all who believed in him and in what he said his company was trying to accomplish. It’s good to see the fakes (like this company) being weeded out – running a truly green business is a lot harder than most business people who are jumping on the bandwagon want to believe.
Great Post. This should not discourage people from recycling. People just need to do their due diligence until proper legislation is in place. Legislation is going to drive this market and a uniform standard will be established.
Honestly, how can a business owner NOT KNOW where his own containers are going? It’s obvious he is lying, and he plays the “you’re attacking me” card to look innocent.
I’m sorry but I call BS on the Press Release for two reasons: 1) they took the bait of the GAO sting posing as Chinese “recyclers” and, 2) the container did not contain “tested working units” as he stated in the release, it contained dismantled CRT glass that had the yolks removed. He knew he was dumping lead-laden glass on China. Don’t believe the crap he is dishing out now. Other responsible recyclers in the Denver area KNOW who their downstream processors are and how they handle the processing. You wouldn’t put your product in a Chinese SHIPPING CONTAINER in the first place if you were sending to a legit processor, it would be put into a truck. Sorry, Executive, you’re unethical, period.
I didn’t see the 60 Minutes piece, but this is what I tell clients about e-waste:
When it comes to e-cycling, not all recycling is created equal. Or, as a recent New York Times headline put it: There is no heaven for cell phones. The proper recycling and disposal of electronics is complicated by two facts: 1) E-waste generally contains substances that are toxic if not handled properly and 2) Certain components (such as copper and gold components) of e-waste are quite valuable. Many e-cyclers are not concerned about being green, but rather send e-waste overseas to be dumped or disposed of improperly. So, when looking for an e-waste recycler, reseller or asset management firm, make sure they are environmentally responsible. The only way to do that is to use E-cyclers that participate in the The Basel Action Network’s (BAN) Electronics Recycler’s Pledge of True Stewardship, a list of which can be found at: http://www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html. Executive Recycling is not on the list and that makes me suspect.
To JP’s point, I’m not sure that legislation is going to do the trick anytime in the near future. The EPA’s current regulation and enforcement is woefully inadequate. Even the GOA has called on the EPA to beef up regulations and enforcement. And their R2 Responsible Recycling standards, which are currently in development, have been highly criticized as not being stringent enough and will ultimately be voluntary. I’m not sure what the answer is, but the current face of regulation doesn’t seem adequate.
You cannot contractually transfer your liability. You must do ‘due diligence’. As is the case with most compliance regulations (e.g., HIPAA document disposal requirements for healthcare providers, which we work with) you must take ‘reasonable’ steps to insure the 3rd parties you use do what they say they are doing.
Richter’s company will be held responsible, and believe it or not, it is conceivable organizations that sold their e-waste to him could also be involved, but not very likely. Regulators often look up and down the food chain for the deepest pockets.
Beyond that, it seems the press release was hastily prepared and is full of inconsistencies and misplaced blame.
I know brandon and he knew where his shipments were going. He is very greedy too. He has all his fancy lawyers telling him what to say. Not long ago, one of his employees got in a horrible car wreck driving a company vehicle and killed the other driver. All the victims wanted was for Brandon to pay the funeral fees. He refused!!! He even told his driver to say it wasn’t his fault when the driver wanted nothing more than to clear his conscience, and give the victims family some closure and know the truth. SHAME ON YOU BRANDON… & ER is not a small business, they have a 10,000 sq operation going on. They sell their monitors because then they can make money on the back end, on top of charging for the monitor in the first place. This is just the first container that they have caught; EXCELLENT JOB 60 minutes (by the way). If they weren’t shipping directly, then they were shipping to someone who is sending overseas. If i were you, i would never recycle with Executive Recycling!!! Not only is ER a business, but they are EPA (ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY) certified, this doesn’t seem very environmentally to me. I think microsoft should start checking authenticity on his refurbished computers that he sells out of his retail stores.
From: Tere Blake [mailto:tere@ocf.ca]
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 4:54 PM
To: Brandon Richter
Cc: tolson@executiverecycle.com; Peter Hilton
Subject: RE: Booking # 877033521
Hi Brandon
Yes we saw the 60 minutes segment. We were surprised they did not delve into who actually arranged the shipment of the container. They did not contact us which is surprising as we were named on the B/L as the notify party.
FYI we are currently out of pocket for over USD20,000.00 due to 0743686 BC Ltd’s illegal actions and in addition our agent in HK is being prosecuted by the HK Government for simply being named on the Bill of Lading as a agent. In the meantime 0743686 BC Ltd have simply ceased operations and its principals are untraceable.
Attached is the booking confirmation sent to Karen Zhang . According to our records we had no communications with Executive Recycling prior to the container being loaded. As such we would not have been in a position to advise you that the container was destined for Hong Kong.
I hope this assists,
Rgds Tere Blake
OCF Vancouver
From: Brandon Richter [mailto:brandon_richter@executiverecycle.com]
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 3:35 PM
To: Tere Blake
Cc: tolson@executiverecycle.com
Subject: Booking # 877033521
Tere,
I wanted to find out if there was anything you could send me on email that shows Executive Recycling did not order the transportation for this booking. Not sure if you saw the 60 minutes segment on E-waste but they tracked this container from Karen Zhang into Hong Kong, and they are saying that we exported this material to Hong Kong without giving proper notification to the Honk Kong government. I’m trying to provide the media, and businesses with information that will clear our name from doing this export.
Any help you can provide on this would be great. Thank you, Brandon Richter
Try us out for computer and electronic recycling. We are a smaller and much more responsible company. We care about Colorado and the world! We do not ship overseas and only use US recyclers. 303-781-1089
Try us for computer and electronic recycling. We are a smaller but much more responsible company who cares about Colorado and the world!We use U.S. recyclers.
The Director of Basel Action Network reported that they tracked 21 shipping containers from Nov 07 to Mar 09. They were reported to the receiving countries. 10 containers were stopped and 8 of the 10 contained illegally filled. 7 were shipped back. Don’t give them them bennifit of the doubt please. Demand accountability and transparency. E-Stewart.com
I think all of you who think Brandon is guilty are just jealous of his success – he’s not a bad guy like one of the writers incidated. He’s very successful, loves his family, is passionate about what he does, is very good at what he does and unfortunately, others (his competitors) want to ride off his coat tails and capitalize on this HUGE falicy. Don’t be so quick to point the blame – you sound a bit gullible believing what you watch from media reports. The CEO should sue 60 Mins! This show is looking for the easiest and juiciest stories possible and fill in the blanks where needed. Nice job 60 mins on the junk – scandal does sell! How boring the news would be if every day there was nothing to report.
frvsieyebkkyvvalwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch
Yes, I know Brandon as well- we were neighbors. Brandon gave his children bungee cords to play with in which his child snapped one into my son’s eye causing him to become legally blind in one eye. He was there when it happened and all we wanted was for him to put a claim into his homeowners insurance to help my 3 year old son out since it was permanent- he then quickly denied it and we were told by him and his wife Jill- *hit happens. Well Brandon- Carma baby- what comes around goes around – I guess *hit happens. After this ordeal his wife would point to my son and me and laugh as she would drive by- I don’t think they have a care in the world about what happens to anyone.
CONSUMER ALERT BEWARE – ER has changed their name to MER or Mountain Electronic Recycling> PLEASE DO NOT USE THEM!!!
CONSUMER ALERT BEWARE – ER HAS CHANGED THERE NAME TO TECH CYCLE AND THEY ARE STILL SHIPPING TO CHINA!!!!!! GOOD JOB BRANDON!!!! HOW DOES IT FEEL???
I have seen the 60 Minutes Report about one year ago. Is the reason it has been broadcast for the second time that the problen of “misdirected shipments” continued? My sense last year was that Brandon Richter, CEO, or the people handling out going shipments, had honestly been “not directly involved in the illegal activities..”. Also, it is unfortunate that this obvious infraction caused Mr. Richter to “no longer hire prison labor”. This is unfortunate, as it implys that these individuals were the cause of the “brech”. What brought him to make that conclusion or acuzation? It makes me now wonder about his integrity…as he needs to blame the most vulnerable, without proof!! Good luch Executive Recycling….Blame on!!
John Michael McCarthy
Los Angeles, CA 90041
I do not trust 60 minutes. I have seen shows of theirs that appear on the surface to be exposing wrongdoing, but end up being a sophisticated cover-up of the real crimes.
For example, they had a show not long ago called “The Price of Bananas”
(see
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/08/60minutes/main4080920_page3.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody for transcript)
on how Chiquita paid death squads in Colombia for years, and they made it look like the company was paying for protection of its employees from attack, when in reality these death squads never attacked anyone but activists and labor leaders who were fighting for the rights and wages of those very employees – in other words, the death squads that Chiquita paid for attacked the enemies of Chiquita and the friends of Chiquita’s workforce. If they killed any employees, it was probably labor activists within their ranks.
That should have been the story, but instead that angle was covered up.
So, what is their angle this time? Why has this particular recycling company been targeted? Why was there no follow-up (or even coverage) of the company’s claims that it was itself defrauded by the company that bought its recyclables?
Who knows? Maybe this company really did commit crimes, but if so, was that the real reason for the 60 minutes attack piece, or was there some other, hidden, motive?
I don’t trust 60 minutes, so I’m just waiting for the real story to come out, somewhere very few people will see it, after 60 minutes’ angle has been heard by the millions.
CONSUMER ALERT BEWARE – Executive Recycling has changed their name to Mountain Electronic Recycling and they are still shipping toxic electronic waste to China and Africa.
Techcycle
Executive Recycling
Mountain Electronic Recycling
1630 W. Evans Unit-H Englewood CO 80110
(303)791-0808
(303)934-4967