Are you one of those who feel that by recycling your computers, entertainment electronics, mobile phones you are being a responsible environmentally friendly citizen? Well, unfortunately nothing can be further from the truth, because in reality you are just adding to the global trade in electronic trash (electronic waste, e-waste or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) that endangers workers and pollutes the environment in other parts of the world, like India, China and Nigeria.
You will be surprised to know that according to activists 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! When this e-waste reaches the destination countries, which is usually the developing nations, the workers then use hammers, gas burners and even their bare hands to extract metals, glass and other recyclables, thus exposing themselves and the fragile eco-system to a host of toxic chemicals.
Not just overseas, e-waste is the major contributor of U.S. landfills (It represents two percent of America’s trash in landfills, but it equals an amazing 70 percent of overall toxic waste).
If properly processed e-waste is a very good source for secondary raw materials. Thankfully, some companies have woken up to the dangers of not properly recycling this e-waste and now companies such as Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sony now take back their products at no charge. One hopes that more will follow in future.
It is because of this very reason, it is extremely important for anyone who’s disposing of their computer equipment to really have a thorough inspection of the vendors they use. Trust me; you will be doing the environment a big favor.
Via: CNN
