E-waste execs facing federal charges

Sept. 19 -- Two executives from an electronic-waste recycler have been indicted on charges of wire and mail fraud, environmental crimes, exportation contrary to law and destruction or falsification of records.

Brandon Richter, CEO of the Denver-based Executive Recycling, and the company’s vice president of operations Tor Olson, were indicted in federal court, according to court documents.

The company was responsible for at least 300 exports, including shipments of more than 100,000 toxic cathode ray tubes that netted the company $1.8 million, according to the indictment.

In 2007 and 2008, the Basel Action Network photographed containers leaving the company’s facility and tracked them all over the world, with most of the containers ending up in China. The shipments became the center piece of a "60 Minutes" segment.

"This is a major victory for global environmental justice," said BAN Executive Director Jim Puckett in a statement. "Now these sham recyclers are warned: Their shameful practices can land them in jail."

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@crain.com or 313-446-6780.

w w w . w a s t e r e c y c l i n g n e w s . c o m