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e-waste - Coggle Diagram
e-waste
Improper recycling practices
this 17.4% prevented 15 millions tons of carbon dioxide being emitted into the air
The rest is in landfills or sent illegally to other countries to be process by informal workers
we should be pushing for better reclamations processes and stricter regulations on recycling companies can help the problem
only 17.4% of e-waste is properly recycled
e-waste is 2% of landfills but over 70%
of all toxic material in landfills
Domestic
waste processing
an e-waste recycling plant can get certified by the government and receive subsidies
fluctuating prices for reclaimed materials make it difficult to even break even for many companies
expensive and time consuming processes to reclaim materials
waste collection
certified recycling plants are subsidized by the government
many certified e-waste recycling plants have been found exporting waste to other countries, despite it not being allowed with their certification
Some companies buy back old devices to make
sure they go to proper recyclers
international
very little regulation/enforcement on imports
human harm
e-waste contains toxic materials
mercury gas in LCD bulbs, printer ink contains carcinogens
Guiyu, the villages in southern China that process the highest amount of American tech waste, has the highest levels of cancer causing dioxins in the air
Expecting mothers have higher rates of miscarriages and stillborns, and the children who survive past birth have higher rates of neurological and respiratory problems
After working with e-waste for about two decades, many residents feel unsafe drinking the water in the local area due to the pollutions caused by the industry
workers often have very little training or protection, many don't know they're working with toxic material at all
Many workers in the New Territories near Hong Kong don't have proper paperwork to be there, so they can't ask the government for better working conditions
environmental harm
many methods of reclaiming materials are bad for the environment
grilling circuit boards to desolder them and reclaim smaller components puts toxins in the air
burning rubber casings around wires to extract copper puts toxins and pollution in the air
computer chips are soaked in hydrochloric acid to extract gold, and with no regulations, the acid is often dumped in area that run into the river
the parts of the technology that can't be recycled are dumped and ruin the natural environment
America still has yet to ratify the Basel Convention which places stricter enforcements on international trade of waste, including e-waste