The dark side of electronic waste recycling

The dark side of electronic waste recycling

Electronic waste is a hazardous and difficult form of garbage to manage. Though a lot of e-waste can be recycled responsibly, many e-waste processors choose instead to ship it overseas for junkyards in poorer nations to deal with. Remarkably, exporting e-waste is perfectly legal in the US…but thanks to a scrappy nonprofit watchdog, some unscrupulous exporters are still going to jail.

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50 Comments

  1. Don Mega on April 7, 2020 at 9:58 am

    My guess is those monitors blinking red/green/blue lights are running a software to check (and possibly fix) stuck pixels. Some people may throw their monitor away just cos of that without even bothering to test if it could be fixed. Or more likely they were replaced by a better monitor to begin with.

  2. FA on April 7, 2020 at 9:59 am

    I doubt that it actually make it to the Asia, more likely it is just dumped somewhere in the ocean half way to there.

  3. Don Mega on April 7, 2020 at 10:00 am

    Just like Red Cross’ donation money ends up in the pockets of millionaires. We’re bit by bit finding out the world is filled with corruption, and as economies of the world keep worsening despite ever higher GDP it’s only gonna get worse. The end result is even if they actually gave a damn they wouldn’t "afford" to get rid of this junk.

  4. MR. SNOWMAN on April 7, 2020 at 10:00 am

    Smartwatch Disassembly 2020
    https://youtu.be/znJ4B6dBIvk

  5. Spookay T'is Me on April 7, 2020 at 10:01 am

    Mercury doesn’t magically turn into vapour if someone hits something like a laptop/phone/camera with a hammer.

  6. Sqrootofbeetroot on April 7, 2020 at 10:03 am

    Huh, that’s strange I thought they ended up in the junk drawer for all of eternity

  7. praztDR on April 7, 2020 at 10:04 am

    Humans should be reduced on earth. They consume beyond their limits.

  8. jaymorpheus11 on April 7, 2020 at 10:04 am

    Good thing computers are getting smaller, laptops weighing 3-5 lbs vs 40 for desktops. Oled tvs are lighter and tighter than lcds even…super slim tvs just on the horison.

  9. The TNTsheep on April 7, 2020 at 10:04 am

    The interviewee made a tiny arithmetic error at the end there…
    8 – 2.5 = 6.5
    😂

  10. juggerfox on April 7, 2020 at 10:06 am

    Most people in "developed countries" are completely disconnected from their surroundings.
    Food is another example. Millions of animals are killed every day, unnecessarily, to end-up like triangular steaks or burger patties. Growing these animals is literally destroying the world we can live in, from the ozone to the ocean. And barely anybody is conscious of how their food ended up on their plate.

    Things just appear when you buy them and disappear when you bin them. The "from where" and "to where" is completely ignored.

  11. Vishnu Kamath on April 7, 2020 at 10:07 am

    Ohhh thanks for this. I was about to go to that recycler and give my waste there. I think what recycler you meant

  12. Garland Inman on April 7, 2020 at 10:09 am

    Phone companies are trying to get you to return your old device for the gold and gallium some stuff is super rare.

  13. Rationally Insane on April 7, 2020 at 10:10 am

    Get that gold fools! Lol

  14. Fun Fact & More on April 7, 2020 at 10:11 am

    Please tell me

  15. laura elise on April 7, 2020 at 10:12 am

    The destruction of humanity and the environment is always for money, smh

  16. Bharath on April 7, 2020 at 10:13 am

    You guys have covered Asia what about Africa ?, tons of waste is exported there every day

  17. Xtreme Performance on April 7, 2020 at 10:13 am

    Shredding material is the best way once the boards have been cleaned down. Remove everything possible and only pcbs get shredded than run through a solution where electricity and copper is used to recover precious metals such as Gold, silver and platinum group metals. Than base metals. Once you collect all your metals you can refine your solution down and reuse it

  18. GixxerDrei on April 7, 2020 at 10:15 am

    The faster we kill the planet and the human race goes extinct the faster the planet can reboot and heal itself:) "Human beings are a disease, a cancer on this planet…"

  19. Namiko Sai on April 7, 2020 at 10:20 am

    I don’t see how anyone could be surprised by this. Which is a bad thing that I even have to say that.

  20. Sukhjinder Singh on April 7, 2020 at 10:20 am

    Actually companies produce waste from the very biggning

  21. Gregory S on April 7, 2020 at 10:21 am

    What the hell happened out there? You can’t trust anyone anymore. You can’t trust people, businesses, services or anything else. What the hell?!

  22. Stigmatrix on April 7, 2020 at 10:22 am

    What you’re really trying Not to say is that you want it all for yourselves and instead of the “USA” giving it a way to 3 world countries that appreciate it and utilize every single component, you’ll just end up charging the same countries a percentage on every bit of profit made from it. Hell, better yet, Get in between and charge both sides, both ways, killing both parties off economically then just take over the entire transaction.. yeah! Now we’re really talking who wouldn’t want that… I get to be the owner of the company that I buy all my things from and set the prices as high as possible and still maximize my profits?!? Let’s do this!

  23. Fun Fact & More on April 7, 2020 at 10:22 am

    That’s can be used internationally

  24. xxplosiv88 on April 7, 2020 at 10:23 am

    I had my Samsung Galaxy S4 for 6 years from when it was released in 2013 til last year when I replaced it with the S10.
    Only upgraded because of some software and hardware issues that made it a drag to use, and I had an opportunity to get the S10 for free through work.
    I will keep the S10 for as many years as I can too.

  25. fessit on April 7, 2020 at 10:23 am

    That is so sad.

  26. Mr E on April 7, 2020 at 10:24 am

    Heap of electronics have reusable or recyclable parts after they stop working, I don’t think I’ll ever throw away electronics again without harvesting it’s components first. Not because of you though, hobby.

  27. yao on April 7, 2020 at 10:26 am

    I suppose all Recycle companies have some anti-GPS tracker technology now. I think it isn’t hard to make something to find a GPS emitter.

  28. Sneaky V on April 7, 2020 at 10:26 am

    Well asia mass produces these products in very non-environmentally friendly ways so the recycling facilities in north america just resell it back to them.

  29. Secrecy on April 7, 2020 at 10:27 am

    They could literally turn it all into gold and metals.

  30. Cory R on April 7, 2020 at 10:28 am

    Why not just grind up all the circut boards in shredders and use a chemical solution/acids to extract the precious metals?

  31. iNESi4N on April 7, 2020 at 10:29 am

    I’m hooked with this kinda vid 💌

  32. Life After Death on April 7, 2020 at 10:29 am

    Copper and gold

  33. hidden nugget on April 7, 2020 at 10:30 am

    Who throws away a phone?? It sits in a drawer.

  34. Rubiconnn on April 7, 2020 at 10:32 am

    Guy is just swinging an IBM Model M around by it’s cable 🙁 4:44

  35. Pau Hub on April 7, 2020 at 10:36 am

    I hope they can get a lot of resources there to be fix and use again like computers, gadgets and they can make a green eco-friendly generators from e-waste

  36. SugaryAshes on April 7, 2020 at 10:39 am

    It almost like capitalism encourages profit over eco responsibility…

  37. AMIT MEHRA on April 7, 2020 at 10:41 am

    Murdererrrssss… Perpetratorrrssss….

  38. Verge Science on April 7, 2020 at 10:41 am

    Do you recycle your electronic waste?

  39. Stephanie Q on April 7, 2020 at 10:43 am

    hi apes kids 😉

  40. Cliff Sullivan on April 7, 2020 at 10:43 am

    Philippines ship plastics back to Canada…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKK2ApDx-1I

  41. Alex Bolton on April 7, 2020 at 10:46 am

    8 million minus 2.5 million does not equal 6.5 million.

  42. platypus on April 7, 2020 at 10:46 am

    8-2,5=5,5 : )

  43. Amaziah of Judah on April 7, 2020 at 10:47 am

    capitalism is cancer

  44. Fun Fact & More on April 7, 2020 at 10:48 am

    Which Tracker device used by

  45. Mr Chris on April 7, 2020 at 10:49 am

    A wide variety of things could be done to reduce the rate of electronic waste.

    One thing we can do is to stop replacing our electronics too frequently.

    Why throw something away if it’s not broken?

    Whenever people replace their televisions or whatever, the old one can be sold or given away for free as long as it still works.

    In the event it is faulty or damaged, it’s possible it could be repaired or sold for spare parts.

  46. leonard witucke on April 7, 2020 at 10:53 am

    Pollution isn’t murder. I was with you until you injected your politics.

  47. Scott Vanderzanden on April 7, 2020 at 10:53 am

    Eh it’s chinas problem who cares

  48. TurTleguy123r on April 7, 2020 at 10:54 am

    I would have a field day if I could just spend a day going through all the discarded tech and finding cool stuff.

  49. Gandek on April 7, 2020 at 10:56 am

    I don’t get why people recycle phones I just keep mine in drawers as history and to use once a while if they still work

  50. StrawberryPuppyKisses xoxo on April 7, 2020 at 10:57 am

    28 months prison for 2 million extra dollars hmm worth or nah? Hard question

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