You can make a difference across the World
I must enlighten everyone on an issue that most people do not know about. Read this article I wrote and try to tell someone you know about this global disaster. You can make an impact somehow. Have a nice weekend everyone!
“Guiyu, China, literally takes my breath away. While standing in front of a pile of discarded toner cartridges nearly as tall as I am, I struggle with the smoke from a nearby melting operation. It burns my eyes and throat, making breathing laborious. Less than a hundred feet away, “e-waste” is being burned, and a white, fog-like cloud of smoke envelops everything, limiting visibility.” This is the horrific scene described by Tricia Judge, a reporter that has detailed her experience and findings in an article called “Guiyu Revisited: Exposing the Fraud…18 Months Later”.
Piles of electronic waste including inkjet cartridges, computer monitors, toner cartridges and old printers fill up the streets of this small village in China. Guiyu is considered one of the worlds leading e-waste “recycling” centers. Recycling used to describe this situation is in no way the correct word to assess what is going on here. In this small village, the people and government are so impoverished and incapable of stopping waste from being illegally dumped in their town. They are compensated small amounts of money by company’s that need to get rid of old electronic parts and equipment. In return the towns people take apart old and used equipment to sell as parts. They make approximately $1.50 per day and the town gets some funds as well. Is it worth the trade off? The local river has 200 times the levels of acid and 2,400 times acceptable levels of lead.
The majority of this e-waste was found to be ink jet and toner cartridges. Many of them still “virgin” or used only once and could have been remanufactured. The majority come from the United States as identified by recycling stickers on the cartridges. It appears as if these cartridges were intended for recycling. But how did they turn up on the streets of an impoverished country?
We will explore more of this topic but in the mean time do not hesitate to ask us how remanufactured cartridges are better for the environment, better for someone’s neighborhood and for your own pocket book.
Filed under: Newsletter Topics | Tagged: Amherst ink jet, Amherst recycling, canon, cartridge recycling, China, China dumping, dell, e-waste, e-waste dumping, electronics recycling, epson, Guiyu, Guiyu China, Guiyu dumping, hp, illegal china dumping, illegal dumping, illegal e-wate dumping, illegal waste, ink 01002, ink 01060, ink jet cartridge, laser cartridge, lexmark, Northampton ink jet, Northampton recycling, recycling, samsung, toner 01002, toner 01060, toner cartridge, toxic, toxic city, toxic dumping, toxic Guiyu
Very good article. You can recycle just about anything these days! Our business recycles old cell phones to http://www.cellularchallenge.net. They recirculate the cell phones and donate to good causes and most importantly, keep them out of the landfill!