Electronics recycling increases polution overseas

[K. Eng]

I thought people might find this interesting. It seems that electronic stuff that people recycle often ends up piled in some other country:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/18/elec ... index.html

While there are no precise figures, activists estimate that 50 to 80 percent of the 300,000 to 400,000 tons of electronics collected for recycling in the U.S. each year ends up overseas. Workers in countries such as China, India and Nigeria then use hammers, gas burners and their bare hands to extract metals, glass and other recyclables, exposing themselves and the environment to a cocktail of toxic chemicals.

"It is being recycled, but it's being recycled in the most horrific way you can imagine," said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network, the Seattle-based environmental group that tipped off Hong Kong authorities. "We're preserving our own environment, but contaminating the rest of the world."

I haven't thrown away all that much electronic equipment in the past few years. Most of what I can't use I sell on forums or ebay, but I can't help but wonder what happened to the 2 CRT displays I used to own...

[AHuan]

Lead is horrific indeed. There seems to be some sort of cognitive dissonance about the problem too.

Fortunately RHoS is coming through and enforcing some sanity on the matter.

I was thinking.

Y'know about grocery bags, how they can't be recycled with the receipts in them. Why not print the receipts on the same plastic? Problem solved

[joester]

Not a bad idea, but the receipt would need to match the items in the bag for security purposes if security is to be part of the equation. (picture Walmarts or wherever trying to find a particular item....)

Also, what about those same bags that stretch and rip. Go ahead and return a defective item...

Joe