Your old computer. That ancient MP3 player. The giant console TV from the basement. You thought you were doing something good by sending it to be recycled. But what millions of people didn’t know is that most of their old electronics were being sent overseas to recycling facilities in tiny villages and towns like Nanyang China – in the heartland of e-waste. The practice of shipping electronic goods to China is nothing new. For years, environmentalists and reporters have tried to turn the spotlight onto these problems.
Why ship the goods overseas? The answer is the cost. The over abundance of safety rules, regulations and procedures drives the recycling cost up for companies so high that it is 10 times cheaper to send tons of electronic equipment to China and the like. The disassemblers and recyclers will do very dangerous work for very little money and if they have employers, it is rare they care about the health of the workers. To recycle the products, many times workers sit outside their homes with gas burners melting down parts for the equivalent of 100 dollars a month. Toxic fumes are released into the air and now the ground water is also affected, which will affect the farm land and the ponds. People visiting the areas have complained of headaches and a metallic taste in their mouths after just a short amount of time, so there is no telling what kind of long term effects the exposure is going to have on workers and their families.
How much e-waste does China produce annually? There are no concrete numbers, but some estimates say it could be more than 1 million tons of waste. To put that into perspective, that’s about the same as 5 million televisions, 4 million refrigerators, 5 million washing machines, 10 million cell phones and 5 million personal computers.
Photo Credit: www.cawrecycles.org
