While it couldn't fully comply with BAN's requests, 1-800-GOT-JUNK told its partners to avoid sending recycled equipment with toxic material overseas, Hall said. Some partners obliged, removing recyclers mentioned by BAN.

The events had already been organized when BAN approached them, Hall said. "We could not drop everything and do what BAN asked us to do," Hall said.

The company could not simply cave in to all of BAN's demands, and it did the right thing, Hall said. However, BAN disagreed.

"Yes, they appeared to make a token effort to address concerns about exports ... but 1-800-GOT-JUNK failed to set adequate standards for all their recyclers and didn't perform adequate due diligence, " Westervelt said.

BAN took a heavy-handed approach and launched a media campaign to smear the company's name, according to Hall. The nonprofit could have gone after companies causing more damage to the environment, she said.

BAN didn't specifically target 1-800-GOT-JUNK, Westervelt said. A few recycling companies in the US contacted BAN with concerns that recycling events would funnel toxic material into export. "It was clear their expertise is in hauling garbage to the landfills, not in the international trade in toxic wastes. That's why we offered to work with them, to quickly get them up to speed on these issues so they could ensure they weren't contributing to the export of US e-waste," Westervelt said.

Despite its rough approach, organizations such as BAN can help promote responsible recycling, Hall said.

BAN is working with companies including Sony, Hewlett-Packard and Dell to avoid the export of toxic waste. It is also trying to get the US government to ratify the Basel Convention. About 170 countries have ratified it, but the US is not one of them, Westervelt said.

The failure to ratify the Convention has made the U.S. one of the largest toxic waste traders, Westervelt said. The US openly permits the trading of used electronics and circuit boards with toxic materials under the pretext of equipment reuse, Westervelt said. But in many cases, the gear is not reused and developing countries don't have the tools to properly recycle it. For example, three-quarters of the recycled electronic equipment that arrives in Nigeria is junk, Westervelt said. "It's so obsolete nobody wants to buy it, so they have to burn it," she said. This releases toxic substances including dioxins, Westervelt said.