Brad Roderick, executive vice president of InkCycle, discusses the problems with electronic waste, or e-waste.
E-waste is an important issue, not just in the United States or North America, but globally. Most people are aware that virtually every major city in the United States has closed landfills because they're at capacity, so where does excess landfill material go? It has to be shipped somewhere.
The problem is even worse with electronic waste, or e-waste. In less scrupulous environments, e-waste is typically sold and bought by the pound and goes offshore. There are provinces and regions where their entire economy is based on e-waste.
What happens with this e-waste when it is sold and bought? The components of value, such as gold in electronic circuitry are extracted. These e-waste components are extracted by burning off the rest of the material creating toxic fumes. The remaining material ends up bing burned and stockpiled in areas. For example, in Hong Kong, there are days when you can't even breathe outside because the brown and black air is so thick it makes you choke.
The thing about electronic waste is that it's growing and not just as a problem, but it is growing in terms of total units.
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