E-Waste.....80% ends up in China

[Copper Catcher]

The dirty little secret...... http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n

88% of workers suffer from neurological, respiratory or digestive abnormalities or skin diseases. Higher than average rates of miscarriage are also reported in the region. Workers use their bare hands to crack open electronics to strip away any parts that can be reused- including chips, or valuable metals such as gold, silver, etc. Workers also "cook" circuit boards to remove chips and solders, burn wires and other plastics to liberate metals such as copper; use highly corrosive and dangerous acid baths along the riverbanks to extract gold from the microchips; and sweep printer toner out of cartridges. Children are exposed to the dioxin-laden ash as the smoke billows around Guiyu, and finally settles on the area. The soil has been saturated with lead, chromium, tin, and other heavy metals. Discarded electronics lie in pools of toxins that leach into the groundwater, making it so polluted that the water is undrinkable. To remedy this, water must be trucked in from elsewhere.

Source: Electronic waste in Guiyu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste_in_Guiyu

[beauanderos]

well worth watching. What's the solution? Is there one? Companies that recycle will continue to bypass roadblock laws... and what other low-paid sources are there of semi-skilled labor that could recycle these minute amounts profitably? I'm not condoning this at all, just sayin it ain't gonna stop just because 60 Minutes made a shocking revelation.

[Dr. Cadmium]

This is quite outdated.

E-waste export laws are more numerous and stricter now. But with new laws come new loopholes, and considering the damage that's been done it will be decades before some of these areas are safe to live in by any standard.

In some parts of the world, it's a choice between exposing yourself and your community to toxic waste - or not eating.

Even within the US there are a lot of dirty secrets - I've seen EPA certified businesses with "zero landfill" policies sending full trucks to the landfill.

[cesariojpn]

What's the solution?

Hire homeless people in the USA to do the work. Or send them to "Happy Camps" if they don't comply.