Title: China: The electronic wastebasket of the world | CNN
Headings: China: The electronic wastebasket of the world
China: The electronic wastebasket of the world
Story highlights
(CNN) —
Dirty, dangerous work
Toxic tech
It may not sound nice, but we don’t dare eat the rice that we farm because it’s planted here with all the pollution
Used to be worse
Domestic e-waste grows

Content: If this plastic cup has a hole in it, you throw it away,” said a man who ran the operation, pointing to a pink plastic mug. “ We take it and re-sell it.” But recycling in Guiyu is dirty, dangerous work. “ When recycling is done properly, it’s a good thing for the environment,” said Ma, the Greenpeace spokesman in Beijing. “But when recycling is done in primitive ways like we have seen in China with the electronic waste, it is hugely devastating for the local environment.” According to the April 2013 U.N. report “E-Waste in China,” Guiyu suffered an “environmental calamity” as a result of the wide-scale e-waste disposal industry in the area. Related Video Matchmaking: Chinese style
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Much of the toxic pollution comes from burning circuit boards, plastic and copper wires, or washing them with hydrochloric acid to recover valuable metals like copper and steel. In doing so, workshops contaminate workers and the environment with toxic heavy metals like lead, beryllium and cadmium, while also releasing hydrocarbon ashes into the air, water and soil, the report said. For first-time visitors to Guiyu, the air leaves a burning sensation in the eyes and nostrils.