According to a recent United Nations report, China has become the e-waste dumping ground of the world. It’s second only to the U.S. in the amount of electronic trash made up of refrigerators, old laptops, computers, and televisions that get dumped there every year. In a village outside of Beijing, families depend on e-waste recycling to make a living.

Dongxiaokou village is a hub for e-waste recycling. Villagers collect the trash, including old air conditioners, televisions, and refrigerators from Beijing and bring their finds back to Dongxiaokou to be broken down. Several hundred families gather e-waste, but no one knows how many for sure because much of it is done by undocumented migrant workers.

According to CNN, “Many of these gadgets were initially manufactured in China. Through a strange twist of global economics, much of this electronic junk returns to China to die.” The e-waste is taken apart and fixed before being sold to wholesale dealers for resale. If they cannot be fixed, they’re beaten apart with hammer and axe and then sold for scraps. Families can earn about $8 for an air conditioner, a tiny amount for an abundance of work.

Such wide scale e-waste recycling contaminates both the workers and the village itself. The small village stream has been polluted with toxins from breaking down old appliances and children play amongst heaps of trash. According to The Washington Post, “Those in the business in Dongxiaokou grapple with poor infrastructure and sanitation facilities, in addition to dangers associated with handling the waste. The village is now facing demolition as part of an urbanization plan, and residents are worried about losing their homes and work.”

When such recycling is done without the proper equipment and safety protocols in place, it can have damaging repercussions, but for these villagers, there is just no other way to make a living.

Related on EcoSalon

The Wasted Years: Fixable E-waste Issue Continues to Be a Global Problem

Everlane Eliminates Fashion Waste

Cooking With Food Waste

Image: Mosman Council

The post E-Waste Recycling: Families Living on Electronic ‘Trash’ in China appeared first on EcoSalon.

Did you read the Reuters report last week on the dismal state of British beaches?

Turns out that a survey conducted by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) found an average of 2,195 items of trash per kilometer of beach. And this is on beaches that, unlike Glass Beach, were never, ever designated official dump zones.

These numbers are based on reports by the 5000 volunteers recruited by MCS to help clear the beaches of trash. All in all, 374 beaches were surveyed with 385,659 items of trash recovered. Of the trash found,  30% was food packaging and cigarette butts and 13% was discarded fishing paraphernalia.

The MSC wants to halve the trash on British beaches by 2015, but given the fact that there was a 110% increase in dumping over the past 15 years, they will have their work cut out for them educating and encouraging those who don’t seem to see the problem with dumping trash wherever they want.

On a brighter note, 44 beaches in Wales have been getting “Green Coast” awards for their clean environment and unspoilt natural beauty.  This doesn’t mean that Wales isn’t also suffering from beach trash, however – apparently, volunteers cleared almost 50,000 litter items strewn across sand at 56 beaches just last year.

Image: Alan Cleaver 2000

The post No Treasure, Just Trash on British Beaches appeared first on EcoSalon.