Sometime last year, I wrote a post about the disposal of used cars in developing countries, in which I proposed that automobile companies like Toyota should be following up their scrap cars in developing countries with an aim of either recycling them or properly disposing them. I am of the view that the manufacturers themselves have the best capability to do these kinds of jobs. Today, a friend of mine shared with me an eye-opening Basel Action Network (BAN) documentary which shows how the trade in toxic e-waste leaves the poorer people of the world with an untenable choice between poverty and poison, a choice that nobody should have to make. This documentary also suggests the best ways for dealing with e-waste in the developed world without exporting it to developing countries.
The photo below shows a young woman in Guiyu, China, cleaning fish in the exact place where imported electronic waste is also cleaned and processed. Guiyu is one of the areas that have been heavily affected by imported e-waste.
Guiyu, China. May 2008, taken from the Basel Action Network (BAN) site
that is insane that this waste actually gets exported to developing countries — that was something that I had no idea about!!
Ramos, the insanity that you have seen here is just the tip of the iceberg. What mankind has been doing to mother earth is now coming back to haunt him.
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Ugh, that is horrendous. I didn’t know about this, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Here in America, we love dumping our problems on other people in other countries. Sickening.
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This is awful! The people who are to blame in all of this think only about the income, not about the future of our planet.
Exporting is not the right way of solving the problem of waste. Only recycling.
You are working for a great purpose by providing useful recycling tips.
Hope it can work.
Keep up the great job.
This is really sad 🙁 to see that in the videos, watching the video makes me want to cry 🙁
Wow. I can’t believe this occurs. I didn’t know America was dumping its electronic waste elsewhere. They need to improve regulations and give incentives to recycling.
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I’ve heard about this before that ewastes were sent to some 3rd world countries. It’s time we should take full responsibility of our actions. This is for everybody.
Manufactures need to be required to create recycling programs and incentives to consumers. I have a desk top from 1999 in my closet because I don’t know what to do with it and I don’t want to just toss it in the garbage.
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People are too selfish to think about something so important, like mother nature is. But i am sure, importunately, punishment is coming as fast as boomerang.
Just awful!
I had no idea that this sort of thing happen , how can the developed countries do this
This is an eye opening post, I am already aware that many developed countries are throwing their wastage to developing countries. Where people who are considered to be under poverty line are surviving their lives with this kind of dangerous wastage either to earn their meal from it or they don’t have shelter on other parts. The story of many slum areas is same, people are living in so much hazardous situations that no human being want to be their even for five minutes and on the top of that government of such counties are not at all worried about… Read more »
It’s a good post. Recycling of vehicles sounds costly. Some of the older cars use asbestos brakes as well as other carcinogens…so from this standpoint, it could be more practical for proper disposal.
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Oh man! I always knew that my country was once a toxic dumping site for developed nations. But I had no idea this kind of dumping still happens in other parts of the world. Maybe it’s still happening now in my country and I just don’t know about it…
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That lady sure isn’t enjoying cleaning that fish
So terrible! I can’t believe the things that go on in the world the no one thinks about. I started reading a book called “You are here” that talks about this same problem. It’s extremely ridiculous and I also think that the manufacturers should be responsible for creating a responsible method to recycle and dispose of their products.
This is horrible and something that we all take for granted. Our minds are always focused on getting the next upgrade and personally, I have rarely thought about where my old pieces of electronics went. Now, these things cannot be taken lightly.
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Wicked! Truly there are lots of under the radar worldwide activities going on! These should be stopped.
The photo really makes a statement. Some ewaste contains trace amounts of mercury and their water must be contaminated with the mercury and many other harmful substances.
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Really thanks for a wonderful posting . Recycling is the best way to preserve our environment. I wish everyone to know about the greatness of recycling and avoid non-biodegradable wastes like plastics and use degradable paper. Hope this post reaches millions around the planet like me.
Thanks for writing about this, not enough people realize how devastating this can be and more needs to be done to educate people on the dangers of e-waste. Thanks.
It’s a good post. Recycling of vehicles sounds costly. Some of the older cars use asbestos brakes as well as other carcinogens…so from this standpoint, it could be more practical for proper disposal.
I don’t know when the world’s leaders will realise that there is only one solution to the planet’s eco problems and that is to work on reducing the populations. There are still countries like the Philippines and Russia that encourage population growth.
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United States has been exporting toxic waste to countries like India for years now. I have read several reports on this. How US government is fooling countries and sending toxic waste to other countries. In many cases people have lost their lives due to toxic waste.
E-waste is by far the worst form of waste the world has ever produced. It’s a serious issue that many just don’t understand. Shipping waste to countries that can only deal with it through manual labour is not going to lift people out of poverty. However, how the wate is dealt with in developed countries is just as bad. Selling on hazardous waste to exporters is simply not something that should be entertained, but happens every day. However, those recyclers that are trying to do the right thing and use mechanical shredders may be opening themselves up for legal action… Read more »
This is ridiculous. Thanks for opening my eyes to this because I had no idea. Recycling is the way to go and more needs to be done to unify counties across the World so this type of stuff doesn’t happen.
Keep up the good work on your blog.