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Monday, April 20, 2015

China's Electronic Waste Villiage: Pictures

The niche industry employs 30,000 people, many of them in small, family-run workshops. The city of Guiyu is home to 5,500 businesses devoted to processing discarded electronics, known as ewaste. According to local websites, the region dismantles 1.5 million pounds of junked computers, cell phones and other devices a year. The ewaste is mined for the lead, gold, copper and other metals that are found in the circuit boards, wiring, chips and other parts of electronic devices. Much of the waste from the work, particularly the ash from the burning of coal, is dumped into city's streams and canals, poisoning the wells and groundwater.Almost 80% of the discarded electronics come from overseas, including the United States.Environmentalists observe that it is far cheaper to break down ewaste in unregulated places like Guiyu than it is in the developing world, where companies must follow strict guidelines. According to Guiyu's own website, the ewaste business generates $75 million a year. Circuit boards, which can contain tiny amounts of gold and silver, are treated with acid baths.Health reports from the region suggest that Guiyu's children suffer from an extremely high rate of lead poisoning.A worker throws a computer casing onto a pile.According to reports from nearby Shantou University, Guiyu has the highest level of cancer-causing dioxins in the world and an elevated rate of miscarriages.Despite the dangers, the ewaste business in Guiyu continues to thrive.
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