Electronic Wasteland

In our Materials and Processes class we were able to watch the 60 Minutes special featuring the Electronic Wasteland, a place in the Far East where the 'recycling' of electronic materials is highly prominent.  

The focus of this special was to follow a seemingly acceptable American based recycling center that recycles the materials inside of television screens, computer monitors, and other electronics.  Although the focus of the company is to recycle properly, the company is responsible for the exportation of carcinogenic materials such as cathode ray tubes (CRT), high in mercury.  

Shipping these hazardous materials is technically illegal, due to the materials being transported; however, some of these materials are able to slip through the walls of the United States to the Far East.  In China, these so called 'recycling areas' are primarily run by gangs that control certain neighborhoods or boroughs.  

Due to the low amounts of natural materials in China, the citizens of these neighborhoods are paid through the gangs to dismantle electronics to harvest the valuable materials from parts inside of computers, cellphones, televisions, and other electronic devices. 

If carried out properly, the extraction of these materials are less likely to cause problems in humans, as well as the environment. However, there are few regulations protecting its citizens from the ways these materials can be harvested. For instance, the people who disassemble these objects vary in age.  They sit at home around an open furnace melting away the connections that hold certain pieces to motherboards.  Once heated, the units are pried off, smashed and hopefully they have not destroyed the valuable components.  

Another issue with the electronic wasteland is the amount that is 'recycled'.  With todays' age of technology, there are new things being put on the market daily, rendering prior technology useless.  Piles of electronic waste sit in fields and decompose, contaminating water supplies of areas surrounding them. The particular region involved with these electronic fields have to have water shipped in so the inhabitants can survive.  

The worst part is that the Chinese Government conceals the matter at hand by misleading the 60 Minutes reporters to believe that the recycling efforts are to the best of their abilities.  These are lies.