Here Is What Computer Recycling In China Looks Like

Here is what computer recycling in China looks like.. here are your old iPhones and computers

 

While it's disgusting to see the blatant environmental disregard, it's common in developing parts of the world. And much of China is still very backward. I'd bet a good deal of this is production waste and factory seconds. The relentless pace and ultra-cheap technology mean that products manufactured in many developing areas have an absurdly high defect count.

Think of this in terms of televisions. Say 1 in 50 fails QC because it doesn't work at all and maybe 1 in 20 work but are cosmetically goofed and then maybe 1 in 10 has a screen or audio defect. In a US facility this would soon drive the company into bankruptcy. But the overhead there is very low as is the labor cost. And there's other options for recouping the losses. Some can be sold to jobbers who disassemble them and recombine the parts into working units, the ugly ones going to the black market. The rest as spare parts if functional.

The unit cost is so low that this level of loss can actually be sustained and turned into a profit. The "good" ones that head for the US and Europe will eventually fail and are too cheap to fix (remember when TV repair shops were common? 3 pages in a phone book of them). So they may enter the thrift store circuit where many are also cross-combined into working or parts units. The rest is junked or recycled. And yes, a good portion finally ends up in developing areas because the local government scores a profit.

I'd still bet most of it ends up in landfills local to the consumers who buy the planned-obsolete junk.

 

I remember about ten years ago when it was common for an lcd display to have a few dead pixels (which was considered acceptable then) that as many as 40 to 50 percent of lcd panels failed quality control by having too high a dead pixel count. of course this was part of the reason they were so expensive, buy buying one display you have to cover the cost of manufacturing for the rejects.

 

Well you see guys, alot of this stuff is dumped in third world countries illegally. What they do is ship the items over there saying they are second hand goods which are still useable.

Although you see smashed TV's and stuff that will certainly never work again. Its mostly greedy recycling companies who want extra profit, so they dump this shit in places like China or Africa..

All about MONEY.. LOVELY MONEYYYY..

 

it is all about money, but you got it all wrong, there is a mountain of $$$$ in that pile of scrap.
Recyclers BUY this scrap by the barge load, nobody is being duped into buying "second hand goods".
The copper and gold reclaimed make electronic waste recycling very profitable if you can process tons of the stuff daily.
it is a modern day gold mine if you have the resources to do it efficiently.

 

WE are the biggest problem...



I've never purchased a computer in my life, all have been refurbished cast-offs, either donated or recovered from dumpsters.
Everyones got to have the latest and greatest, I'm happy scaveging whatever was hot 5 years ago, lol

Keep it up, consumers! Not doing so is bad for the economy...{{rolls eyes}}

 

What my point about the money was.. is that companies dump this stuff there to save money. Sure, they can recycle it and get the gold from it, but its often done by people in third world countries with no safety gear.

They get the stuff, are supposed to recycle it properly, but go hey - i can make a quick buck by shipping it overseas, which they do.

If you have time, watch this documentary - http://free-computer-recycling.blogin.com.au/documentary-on-e-waste-in-ghana-africa/

Little kids are getting the cords and burning them in big piles to remove the plastic, to get the copper inside. Everyone in town is breathing in burning chemicals. And this stuff was not dumped their legally, rich greedy fucks sent it there so they could save a few bucks.