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High-Tech Trash. Toxic E-Components End Up Overseas [PICS]

ngm.nationalgeographic.com — Interesting, disturbing mix of pics -- many of hazardous electronic components & their end-use overseas, in poor countries, etc. Also, some of environmental and health-friendly methods of discarding, recycling them.

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  • rypic7, on 06/05/2008, -4/+20just doing our part to make sure less developed countries have access to technology!
  • Zaggy111, on 06/05/2008, -2/+20Whats up with the pingvin thumbnail?
  • jigjog, on 06/05/2008, -5/+3little kids in ghana are infatuated with technology. at the orphanage i was with they would play with batteries and wires and stuff all the time.
    • Lynx77777, on 06/05/2008, -1/+0I heard old batteries make great play things for kids, yummy.
  • WestEast, on 06/05/2008, -1/+8Whats with the pic?

    Did we send them Penguins too?
    • Purkake, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1No it shows how our high-tech trash ends up hurting all those cute penguins in Africa...
  • palehorse864, on 06/05/2008, -2/+11*looks at title, looks at pic*
    I blame Linux.
  • punkcat, on 06/05/2008, -2/+21buried as inaccurate, that stuff is no longer high tech.


    • chrisk9, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1It is in the countries the stuff ends up in.
  • PDF84, on 06/05/2008, -1/+3Gosh we should be all over them for carbon emissions and contributing to global warming. Oh wait, that right no one cares.
    • vexadril, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Carbon DIOXIDE emissions.
    • arkaycee, on 06/05/2008, -0/+0Yeah, and we should jump all over whoever dumped all that toxic ***** over there anyw... oh wait, nevermind.
  • NecroDigg, on 06/05/2008, -8/+1OM NOM NOM NOM NOM
  • 9bpm9, on 06/05/2008, -1/+2Holy *****.
  • D14BL0, on 06/05/2008, -1/+2Holy *****, that's a lot of CRT monitors. I have a hard time grasping that much old tech in one place. :(
  • emalen, on 06/05/2008, -2/+2For the article (on 8 pages, beware): http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/01/high-tec ...

    and the most important info, how you can help:
    http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/01/high-tec ...


    • heavystone, on 06/05/2008, -3/+1What you mean help? We are giving them jobs and a way of income so they don't have to turn to crime. If that's not helping then I don't know what is.

      You want to stop it? Well stop and think about that for a second. People are so quick to want to stop things like this, but the truth is stopping it will in most cases make things worse.

      Sure I sound like a heartless bastard, but someone has to wake up the middle class Americans/Europeans from their Happy Meals and realize that not everyone can just go out and get a job. There is a reason why these people are working like this...there is nothing or little else worth doing.
      • emalen, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Did you even read the article? It's about recycling electronics properly so they don't end up in piles somewhere or in landfills. Rtfa before mouthing off.
        • heavystone, on 06/05/2008, -1/+1I did read it. Did you even understand what I was talking about? Its not the recycling I am reacting to, its the people who find this awful because its happening at these U-countrys.
  • Etherion, on 06/05/2008, -2/+2I'm being irritated, its the second time I open a link because of the penguin thumbnail.... and there are no penguins... thats bad, should have more penguins
    • JAFFA, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2I said it before and I'll say it again. Articles are not worth reading unless they have complimentary penguins...
  • crackerjack20, on 06/05/2008, -2/+0I usually don't have a reaction to the stuff I see on the internet these days, but those pictures make me sick. I can't believe we're dumping all that toxic junk on poor countries. We should just drop CRT monitors on the insurgents in Iraq. It's cheaper than bombs, and who cares if they die of lead poisoning.
  • helooksmortal, on 06/05/2008, -0/+3e-waste is a big deal, look it up on wiki or google.

    i did a report on this for one of my college geology classes. it's a serious problem and a big shame that there hasn't been much support or legislation and regulation here yet in the states regarding e-waste. majority of our electronic waste ends up in landfills, and most of that in these 3rd world countries where it is cheap to haul off and less restrictions. many companies here in the states aren't held responsible for the end-of-life of their products, and there aren't any nationally mandated restrictions or regulations on decreasing or regulating the use of the harmful chemicals and compounds. even most so called "recycling" programs here for electronics end up shipping them overseas as well. double-check to see where exactly your components end up or what your drop-off site really intends to do with them. this among other problems like our "throw-away" ethic do not help the problem.

    poorer countries are getting hit with the pollution from heavy metals and volatile chemicals from these products, leading to a host of health problems including methylated mercury poisoning, lead poisoning, carcinogenic diseases, and much more.

    it's the number one rapidly growing form of municipal waste and it accounts for about 80% of the toxic waste in there. the support for green manufacturing techniques and disposal, pressure for legislation, and an overall increased awareness will help... but it'll take time.


  • WoundedCow, on 06/05/2008, -1/+3I know things are bad in third world countries and all, but that one photo filled with discarded mother boards and electronic do-dads looked surprising like my computer closet here at work...I'm thinking maybe I have a third world country growing here?
  • RobotLeAwesome, on 06/05/2008, -1/+1We should just send all this stuff to Robonia.
  • havocjaw, on 06/05/2008, -5/+0The man melts lead in his pot. Then cooks food for his family in it.... (Last picture)

    Too expensive to make a new pot with the metal I suppose.
    • clarient, on 06/05/2008, -0/+4How many lead pots do you have in your kitchen?
  • ClevelandBrown, on 06/05/2008, -0/+0We are *****.
  • wh0r4cl3, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1I have a lot of old e-waste I NEED to recycle. We are talking monitors, motherboards, chips, wires etc, how/where can I recycle this in the United States?
  • Tl2AVLS, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Where does everyone think all the lead based paint in those toys came from? After we learned lead was toxic we shipped all the lead paint to china. They sent it back on the toys.
  • buntee, on 06/05/2008, -0/+2I clicked in hopes of seeing penguin pictures.... :-(
  • clyde2801, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1America...***** YEAH!
  • sillymeganlee, on 06/05/2008, -0/+0Buried for getting my hopes up and this article not being about penguins.
  • ChanM, on 06/05/2008, -0/+0I think I see my old Pentium PC in there...
  • cactus476, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Find a local computer refurbisher/recycler that makes sure recycled goods aren't shipped out of the country.

    I personally deal with the non-profit BYTES in Cincinnati, OH. Technology that is still in good use is refurbished and put in the hands of schools, non-profits and individuals in need. What's left over is properly demanufactured and recycled.

    http://bytesed.org

  • xero69, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1I was just thinking of the art I'd seen from local artist George Sabra and *poof* there he is in the 4th to last photo. He had some really cool stuff at the Pecan street festival this year. Many of his art is kind of a mix between mother nature and steampunk.
  • THES0URCE, on 06/05/2008, -0/+1Woah! Looks just like my basement.
  • havocjaw, on 06/06/2008, -0/+0I didn't say Lead... I said Metal
  • launchpadtt, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1the pics of the e-waste looked beautiful. an OCD fantasy of neatness. the others are just really disturbing, horrifying almost
  • travelina, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1there's also an exploded view of a desktop monitor that you can click on and find out what kinds of toxic chemicals are in it and where:
    http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/01/high-tec ...
  • aroundtown, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1"China forbids the import of electronic and computer scrap"

    I guess it's more convenient to just manufacture and export it.
  • millerprint, on 06/06/2008, -0/+0Garbage! - Nobody sends our trash overseas. The highest value rate per ton for computer waste is $155 (USD) Export shipping costs are high and only start at (per ton) almost 10 times the salvage value.

    The way this is spun makes it sound like we (USA) are exporting "e-waste" and this is total garbage. I hate to brake the news but there are no ships with our e-waste being sent overseas. Maybe people buy this because environmentalists back in the 80s made us believe we were running out of space to put our trash. The truth is we most of America is raw unused land, period. Look at china, more than 4 times populated and they utilize every square mile and have no scare of running out of trash space, AND they are actually smaller than the USA in land mass.

    All the e waste in the pics has to be from the surrounding area. Not from America.

    And its sad that this stuff is toxic. Its also sad that stupid people eat off the same pans they use to extract toxic elements to make money. But it looks like these people are more than willing to take the time to "gold mine" for something of value. Yeah they might not be making much for a great deal of work but our standard of how we make money cant be held to everyone.

    Can someone explain to me why trash is viewed as someones fault? Trash is a fact of living.
  • donna1234, on 09/22/2008, -0/+1What to do with such process outcome?
    http://www.e-uuu.com
    http://www.t7000.info
  •  

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