E-waste crackdown needed, GAO study says

I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! - Casablanca.

E-waste crackdown needed, GAO study says from the Mercury News.

E-Waste is a low margin business that does not attract the most wonderful people in the world. It's full of wheeler dealer types that are looking to make whatever they can.

And what's strange is China does not allow the importation of E-Waste. I heard the cost was $100 bill taped to the side per container that had legally been sent to HK.

E-Waste Segment on NPR

Heard this on NPR this morning - After the Techno Lust, There's Always E-Cycling

The segment mentioned the idea that the manufacturer responsibility based recycling was great. I disagree, where the California has many more recyclers since it's based on a fee that is pretty simple to administer. This way recyclers have an incentive to get the business and the huge growth in the number of recyclers and collectors in California are evidence of this.

China's E-Waste Headache

Mercury News continues their excellent coverage of China's imported E-Waste nightmare. The photo's from Ban's Web Site are eye opening.



Why?

It is ten times cheaper to export e-waste than to dispose of it at home -
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Cost. To save cost, it's legally exported to Hong Kong, then somehow it gets into China where it is unsafely worked on and anything of value is extracted. Open air acid baths, etc. Lead from the Electronics for example then turns up in Jewelry, often for kids. Why, because it's cheap. And on the somehow the eWaste gets into China, bribery... And why are not safer, more expensive methods used widely? Cost.

How?
You may ask, how does China allow this to continue? China's Central Environmental Agency has little power, the local one is controlled by the local government that does what they feel is best for their personal power (money talks), and the environmental issues are not widely reported inside China. I don't believe you are going to see a electronic recycling version of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair published soon in China. At least the activity is now illegal. It is troubling that reporters were detained 6 hours by the local police.

What?
What of the people's health? Contamination from mercury, lead, fluorine, barium, chromium, and cobalt continues. Lead causes brain damage, mercury causes central nervous system issues (think of the mad hatter, when mercury was used to make felt hats), and other metals/chemicals cause kidney and other health issues.

Used Computer Value

The size/weight of computers has been shrinking. The amount of precious metals (gold) has also been reduced. With the relentless cost reductions that allow a PC to be sold for $349 from Dell and with computers doubling in capacity every two years for the same price, how much is that 5 year old computer worth? Not much.

Ask, who would buy a 5 year old computer when they can get a new one for a little bit more? With the computer size weighing less and less, the amount of scrap value for a PC has been going down. PII Desktop per this article is worth under $50. And how many people want to pay shipping for a used computer, that is more than the computer is worth?

So it sits in a closet, gets donated, or hopefully recycled as it's E-Waste/eWaste. Hopefully, the hard drive in there has been scrubbed so no personal data is passed on. A ball pin hammer is a great way of permanently erasing a hard drive, but it reduces the value of the computer. If an old computer is only worth $50, who can afford to work on it in the US? For business, nobody since just to look at a computer with overhead costs $50. Much less removing a hard drive, wiping it, and then reinstalling a new OS.