Federal Prison Industries (Unicor) is its services as a recycler for electronics companies although has come in for criticism from some environmental groups which claim prisoners are not provided with sufficient protection from toxic substances that might be within products.

The issue of shipping waste overseas has also been well highlighted by groups such as Greenpeace, which has released dramatic and video footage from recycling areas in China and India. In some cities, workers dismantle electronics products by hand and burn semiconductors and components on open flames to recover valuable materials inside. The is little oversight and toxic chemicals are released into the atmosphere or left to drain into the soil to eventually contaminate ground water supplies.