Mitigating Environmental and Health Risks Associated with Uncontrolled Recycling of Electronic Waste: Are International and National Regulations Effective? - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 194

GeneralBackground
The. generation. of. end-of-life. electrical. and. electronic. equipment. (EEE).
(referred.to.as. waste.electrical.and.electronic. equipment,.WEEE,.or.simply.
e-waste),.which.includes.personal.computers,.mobile.phones,.and.entertain-
ment.electronics,.has.soared.in.recent.decades,.with.6.million.generated.in.
1998.in.Western.Europe.and.500.million.between.1997.and.2007.in.the.United.
States.(SVTC.2008)..It.has.been.estimated.that.the.current.global.e-waste.pro-
duction.is.between.20.and.25.million.tonnes.per.year.(Robinson.2009).and.
forecast.to.reach.50.million.tonnes.per.year.(UNEP.2009)..With.today's.tech-
nologically. advancing. societies. and. the. demand. for. newer,. more. eficient.
and. effective. technology,. older. EEE. are. becoming. obsolete. at. increasingly.
faster. rates. in. more. afluent. countries.. For. example,. the. average. lifespan.
of.computers.in.developed.countries.has.decreased.from.6.years.in.1997.to.
2.years.in.2005.(SVTC. 2007)..This.has.resulted.in.the.rapid.rise.of.e-waste,.
by.at.least.3%-5%.per.annum,.and.has,.in.fact,.become.the.fastest.growing.
waste.stream.in.the.industrialized.countries.(UNEP.2005).
On.average,.WEEE.contains.about.38%.ferrous,.28%.nonferrous,.19%.plas-
tic,.4%.glass,.1%.wood,.and.10%.other.materials.(APME.1995),.which.could.
serve. as. secondary. raw. materials.. Recycling. of. e-waste. is. a. prosperous.
business.in.some.developing.countries,.such.as.China,.India,.Pakistan,.and.
Africa..Signiicant.amounts.of.valuable.materials,.such.as.gold,.platinum,.sil-
ver,.copper,.steel,.aluminum,.wires,.and.cables.can.be.extracted.from.WEEE..
More.than.80%.of.the.world's.hazardous.waste.come.from.the.United.States.
(O'Connell.2002),.of.which.80%.are.exported.to.Asian.countries,.in.particular.
China,.due.to.lower.environmental.standards.and.cheaper.labor.(BAN.and.
SVTC.2002).
Two Major E-Waste Recycling Sites in China
China.has.been.the.predominant.recipient.of.the.world's.e-waste,.with.about.
70%.of.the.worldwide.e-waste.illegally.imported.from.developed.countries.
(BAN. and. SVTC. 2002).. Guiyu. town,. located. in. southeastern. Guangdong.
Province,.with.a.population.of.150,000.and.a.land.area.of.52.4.km 2 ,.has.been.
the.major.e-waste.dumping.site.for.e-waste.exported.from.North.America.
since. the. 1980s. (BAN. and. SVTC. 2002).. Taizhou,. Zhejiang. Province,. with.
a. population. of. 400,000. and. a. land. area. of. 274.km 2 ,. is. another. intensive.
e-waste. hotspot.. The. city. handles. e-waste. generated. domestically. and. is.
the. largest. center. for. dismantling. obsolete. transformers. and. capacitors.
(which. contain. polychlorinated. biphenyls,. PCBs,. as. dielectric. luid). in.
China.since.the.1970s.(Zhao.et.al..2007)..From.the.1990s,.different.kinds.of.
e-waste.materials.imported.from.other.countries.are.being.processed.(The.
World.Bank.2005).