A recently released export tracking study from the nonprofit group Basel Action Network (BAN) found that roughly one-third of low-value devices dropped off for recycling in the U.S. ended up outside the country. But industry leaders and researchers say the findings do not point to clear conclusions about the amount of e-scrap material sent overseas overall. Released in early May in conjunction with coverage on PBS, BAN's study documented two years of research into the tracking of used electronic equipment. With the help of a $55,000 grant from the Body Shop Foundation as well as technological support from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, BAN equipped 200 "non-functional and non-economically repairable" CRTs, printers and mercury-containing flat panel displays (FPDs) with GPS trackers. The project did not include items such as laptops, tablets and phones that are more coveted in the recycling and reuse market.
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