E-Waste in China, New Study

Recycling That Harms the Environment and People is about a new study of a village in China.

The truth is that most recyclers have no idea where their E-Waste is going to be recycled. They just resell it to the highest bidder. Following and auditing their downstream costs money, and most recyclers don't have the resources or interest for this.

Theoretically China does not allow the importation of E-Waste, but as one article noted a $100 bill on the side of a container gets past that issue. E-Waste such as PCB's are sold to brokers, such as in Hong Kong, that then resell it and somewhere along the line it gets across the border into China. The advantage of hand labor is then the chips on the PCB's can be removed. Automatic methods entail grinding up the PCB's, separating out the metals such as through electrostatic that allows recovery of the metals and plastics. Of course if one of the materials in PCB is outlawed in the US, this will make the recycling situation even more interesting. Some places also buy machinery for show and demonstrations, while still sending materials off shore for recycling for cost savings. And what is the worth of ISO 14001, not much since organizations that have lapsed may continue to claim they have it. Yes Dorothy, the industry is not the cleanest and most ethical around.