2. GETTING E-WASTED 2
The World Getting E-Wasted
Do you tweet, instant message, text, email, google or use GPS? Do you use a printer,
scanner or fax? Do you have kitchen appliances, multiple TVs, a MP3, PS, Wii or Xbox? Have
you rid yourself of the outdated versions? If you answered yes to all or any of the previous
questions then you have contributed to the largest and most poisonous problem this Earth is
facing today, E-Waste. The E-Waste problem must be dealt with now because electronic devices
outnumber the population on the planet and the effects of the toxins found in the disposal and
recycling of these devices has irreversible effects.
First, as the most consuming country in the world, the consumers need to be aware
exactly where our outdated electronic devices are going. When only 10 to 25 percent of
electronic device get recycled, I asked myself why. Based on those figures in 2009, provided by
the EPA, “38 percent of computers, 17 percent of televisions and 8 percent of mobile devices are
actually recycled.” Compared to the number of new electronic devices bought every year, that is
not near enough to keep us from slowly destroying our planet. At what cost is the latest, quickest
and shiniest new device? Is it so essential to everyday life, that our future generations will
inhabit the most toxic environments known to man? We must take responsibility for our
wastefulness, now before it is too late.
To take the first step in the fight, we must first understand what it is that we are using and
discarding. In electronic devices we find these ingredients: lead, copper, gold, cadmium,
mercury, beryllium, cadmium, chromium hexavalent, polyvinyl chloride phthalates, organotin,
nickel, lithium, barium, arsenic, selenium, americium, yttrium, zinc sulfide and dioxins. Side
effects are felt by everyone and everything the hazardous chemicals come in contact with.
3. GETTING E-WASTED 3
The largest city for E-Waste recycling is Guiyu, China. The city's residents exhibit
substantial digestive, neurological, respiratory, and bone problems. For example, 80 percent of
Guiyu's children experience respiratory ailments, and are especially at risk of lead poisoning.
The entire region of that area is part of the Pearl River Delta Region. A professor at Lincoln
University in New Zealand, collected data that shows
the contamination is now spreading through the air to
the soil as particles, and contaminating the crops and
other foods the local people eat. It affects 45 million
people. The picture to your left (top), is a waterway
that runs through Guiyu. The townspeople have to
import the drinking water to the area due to the high concentrations of hazardous materials in the
water. Families still drink and wash their clothes in
the water, those that cannot afford the water. (bottom
left)
Now that the Chinese have made money by
recycling our outdated E-Waste, along with a
continually increasing economy, the Chinese people themselves are accumulating their own E-
Waste. They are now scrambling to figure out how to deal with the problem and where they are
going to put their own E-Waste.
Reports from CNN claim that conditions have improved drastically in the last few years
due to a crackdown by the government and continued awareness of the situation. Despite the
current efforts of officials to deter the waste away from the area, the garbage still gets through,
and the damage has already been done. Residents of the area have recently lost loved ones to
4. GETTING E-WASTED 4
cancer, that just a few years ago were normal and healthy. A video of woman from Guiyu, about
the death of her son and husband, was emotionally moving. She was crying, as she explained
how the factories and recycling centers’ lax practices, inevitably caused their deaths.
Along with the deaths, residents of the province admit to not drinking the water. The
problems go deeper, in fact, all the way to the ground. Rice that is grown, the people also refuse
to eat themselves because it is toxic, riddled with cadmium. The country exported and still
exports the rice to other countries. Just 2 short years ago the Hunan Rice Company was closed
due to 44.5 percent of Hunan’s products being contaminated by the toxins in the ground, water
and air in China. Rumors spread, that executives of the country, are fleeing due to the pollution.
Groups around the world have attempted to come together to divert and stop the
continued E-Waste travesty. The Basel Convention, a group dedicated to fighting hazardous
waste has remained diligent, and focused towards
the African continent, to help fight the war on E-
Waste. In Ghana, “Agbogbloshie is a vibrant informal
settlement, with considerable overlap between industrial,
commercial, and residential zones.” Just because they
are separated geographically, it does not keep the giant
plumes of black smoke from inundating the local market people from breathing in the toxic chemicals, or
the ash from landing on food at the market. Despite the strides made in Africa, as well as many other
countries around the world, the United States has yet to adopt the ban and continues to illegally export its
goods to other countries. The chart on the next page shows the remaining countries affected and where the
suspects come from. Note that those represented, are just the countries that are suspected of E-Waste
exportation or have been caught already.
5. GETTING E-WASTED 5
Companies like AT&T, have been fined of 23.5 million dollars, in civil penalties for illegally
exporting its outdated E-Waste. They also were required to put forth 28 million dollars towards removing
the hazardous materials in their products in 2011. Other companies like IBM, Dell, Apple and others have
joined in the cleanup of our planet, just by changing how we make those devices and with what material
we use. Metals like silver, are being used in more electronic than ever before. Solar Panels, silver paste,
switches, DVDs,CDs,and the International Space Station are places you will find silver or nanosilver.
Nanosilver is a form of silver in small particulates that requires less silver to function correctly. Its non-
toxic properties are completely safe to humans, unless ingested in large doses.
The remedy for this plight is ourselves. Our country “is getting the World E-Wasted”. By
weighing the advantages and disadvantages of that new device we want, but first, attempt upgrading
hardware and/or software to the device we currently own, we can reduce that 2.4 million tons of E-Waste
hitting the U.S. landfills every year. “That is an average of approximately 24 electronic devices in a
household.” As devices get smaller, the room on Earth also shrinks. We no longer have the luxury orf
throwing our garbage wherever we please. There is really no other place to put it. It is time for our federal
6. GETTING E-WASTED 6
government to take accountability and not leave it up to the state governments to fight this problem on
their own. By agreeing to term of the Basel Ban and helping find ways to recycle more of our own toxic
byproducts, we not only will set an example for other countries, but be able to help clean up what our
country has been doing to other countries or over 30 years.
7. GETTING E-WASTED 7
References
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/ecycling/manage.htm
Anna O.W. Leung et al., "Heavy Metals Concentrations of Surface Dust From E-Waste
Recycling and its Human Health Implications in Southeast China," Environmental Science and
Technology 42, no. 7 (2008): 2674-80.
Brett H. Robinson, "E-Waste: An Assessment of Global Production and Environmental
Impacts," Science of the Total Environment 408, no. 2 (2009): 183-91.
www.Chemicalpics.com
Ivan Watson, CNN (2013) China: The electronic wastebasket of the world
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/30/world/asia/china-electronic-waste-e-waste/
(“China probes,” 2013) http://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-probes-rice-tainted-with-cancer-
causing-cadmium/
(‘Top Ten Toxic Threats”, 2013) http://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/107
(Depositary, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, New York, 2000)
http://www.ban.org/about-the-basel-convention/
(Sustainable Electronics Initiative, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2015)
http://www.sustainelectronis.illnois.edu
T. J. McCue, Forbes (2013) “24 Electronic Products”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2013/01/02/24-electronic-products-per-household-got-
recycling/
Katie Valentine, Climate Progress (Nov 2014) “Telecom Company To Pay”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/11/21/3595508/att-electronic-waste-settlement/
Emily Claire Ferree, n.d., http://geology.com/articles/uses-of-silver/
8. GETTING E-WASTED 8
Tables
Table 1
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Note: [Place all tables for your paper in a tables section, following references (and, if applicable,
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Figures
Figure 1. [Include all figures in their own section, following references (and footnotes and tables,
if applicable). Include a numbered caption for each figure. Use the Table/Figure style for easy
spacing between figure and caption.]
For more information about all elements of APA formatting, please consult the APA Style
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