Target Settles E-waste Lawsuit

The Target Corporation agreed to pay out $22.5 million in penalties over charges that the company improperly disposed of hazardous waste, including electronics, for years. The 2009 lawsuit was brought against over 240 Target stores by 19 California district attorneys, the state general, and the city attorneys in San Diego and Los Angeles. Since 2001, Target was served with more than 300 Notices of Violation for breaking California’s hazardous waste control laws, according to the state attorney general According to E-Scrap News:

The complaint against Target cites, as an example of the retailer’s problems, an instance where employees at a store in Monterey County allegedly put e-waste in a compactor that was then taken by a garbage hauler not authorized to transport such materials to a destination not authorized to accept it.

The settlement money, which will be divided among local affected jurisdictions, also covers supplemental projects furthering consumer and environmental protection in the state. Additionally, Target must hire an outside firm to audit its waste-handling practices.

We hope to see Target turn these practices around. However, California residents can always recycle e-waste for free with All Green.

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