Electronic waste consists of many products such as batteries, washing machines, blow dryers, televisions, computers, cell phones, microwaves, etc. Due to the rapid growth of the technology industry, electronic waste is quickly becoming one of our biggest waste issues because it is the fastest growing category (Economist, 2006). This e-waste is shipped from high-income countries like the United States to developing parts of the world, primarily in Asia and Africa. Ironically, the same technology produced in China returns there at the end of its life with seventy percent of the world’s e-waste alone shipped to China for informal recycling (Stone, 2009). While the large quantity of e-waste being produced is troubling in and of itself for the materialism and wastefulness that it represents, it is the reality of the recycling process itself which is truly problematic. The concept of recycling is inherently a good model to follow as it is cyclical in nature and therefore reduces waste and perpetuates sustainability. However, the good that recycling does for our environment is neutralized when recycling is done improperly. Formal recycling is a vehicle for good while informal recycling is a vehicle for greed-a way to make a quick profit that benefits only one party rather than the planet. Formal recycling protects parties such as workers and the environment with regulations; conversely, informal recycling’s lack of safe practices and consideration for human and environmental health serves only to harm both parties.
The recycling of e-waste in China can be characterized by health hazards for the workers and the environment. Since the informal recycling of e-waste has been illegal since 2000, there are no practices in place to regulate it (Stone, 2009). Informal recycling means no protective equipment for workers like face masks and gloves resulting in burns on their hands and arms and shortness of breath. Unsafe practices mean the burning of cables and acid leaching of circuit boards to recover precious metals (Song and Li, 2014). The toxins released from the harvesting of precious metals from the waste include carcinogens, neurotoxins, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Each of these alone can cause severe damage, but together they are a toxic disaster. They wreak havoc on human, animal, and environmental health, and exposure to these chemicals can happen a number of ways. Informal recycling workers are put at more direct risk, but residents neighboring these sites by a hundred miles or more can similarly be exposed and affected (Song and Li, 2014). The expansive reach of these chemicals is due to their infiltration of soil and dust, water, air, and food sources such as neighboring crops. Of these methods, food intake accounts for ninety percent of exposure cases (Song and Li, 2014). This means that the group primarily affected does not even work with e-waste. Demonstrating this, a recent study showed that Luqaio residents that consumed food from all six food groups consumed twenty-five times the safe amount of PCDD/Fs and PCBs (Song and Li, 2014). These are dioxins that result in the disruption of hormone production, the nervous system, and impairment of the immune system. The children of Guiyu experience an increase in lead levels as they age with levels being one hundred times higher than are normal and safe (Song and Li, 2014). This is especially troubling because lead is a neurotoxin that can slow developmental growth. It has been shown that the unregulated and unsafe practices of e-waste recycling result in the pollution of air, water, and soil, leaving native populations exposed to harmful chemicals that result in a host of health issues. These health issues hinder their quality of life and can result in the loss of life. The damage that the toxins cause does not stop at its disruption of human health, but rather, its damage continues at the environmental level, destroying resources that provide us with our necessities.
China’s rapid economic development has not come without a cost, and the environment pays for it as well as its citizens. China already has many environmental concerns such as outdoor and indoor air pollution, water pollution, and soil pollution due to the industrial growth the country is experiencing ( Haidong, 2009). However, each pollution issue has only been exacerbated by the unregulated e-waste recycling trade. For instance, PBDEs are endocrine disruptors released from e-waste recycling, and soil samples at an e-waste processing town called Guiyu yielded samples with levels a thousand times higher than a control site’s, contributing to soil pollution (Stone, 2009). These toxins can reach the soil through direct contact with particles or by irrigation with contaminated water. Once soil becomes contaminated, any crops that are currently planted there or will be planted there will absorb those same toxins which is how they get to human mouths. Also, these toxins can harm the bacteria and plants in the soil necessary for animal survival, creating disharmony within an ecosystem. These toxins get into the water supply either through direct run off from open treatment facilities, or from the improper filtration and disposal of acid baths that are released into bodies of water (Song and Li, 2014). When water becomes contaminated, those chemicals can reach communities and areas much farther away than the actual e-waste site. Places that might seem safe from such chemicals due to distance are in actuality still at risk and possibly affected. Unfortunately, the acid that has now enter the water can harm and kill marine life, resulting in decreased biodiversity and ecosystem imbalance. The consumption or touching of these bodies of water is a risk to human health as is the consumption of any organism living in the water. The burning of e-waste and melting of plastic has similar negative effects, contributing to air pollution (Song and Li, 2014). When the waste is burned, finite particles and chemicals are released into the air to be breathed in or settle elsewhere as dust. This results in respiratory problems and a host of other health problems depending on the length of exposure and what type of chemical has been inhaled. While this type of air pollution does not directly affect the environment, it does accumulate in the soil and water, worsening their already frail condition and perpetuating those negative effects.
China has tentative laws and plans in place in order to combat these issues. In 2000, the importation of e-waste has been illegal (Stone, 2009). The problem is that the law has not enforced until recently due to the revenue that it brings in. They have another law in place as well that requires that e-waste processors control the pollution they produce, but this includes only legal e-waste sites which means the most harmful producers are not making changes (Stone, 2009). So, there has not been much progress in the informal recycling sector due to its illegality. However, there has been the encouraged development of formal recycling under the Chinese Fund Policy which allows disposers to obtain subsidies and requires importers to pay fees (Liu, Tang, Wang, and Li, 2017). This is an exciting development as illegal sites will most likely become legalized at the appeal of safer work for similar pay. This will then lead to an eventual shift in the health of people and the environment. However, the blame for this situation does not lie with a single country. High-income countries distributed e-waste to developing parts of the world and continue to do so. Scientists are looking for broader solutions such as ending e-waste exports and the incorporation of fewer toxins into technology (Stone, 2009). These are solutions that each individual country could employ, making a safer environment for everyone while supporting sustainability.