E-Waste in Guiya photography & text by Jim Xu
Guiyu is the largest electronic waste (e-waste) site on earth, according to wikipedia. Since late 1980's, a lot of e-waste from overseas has been imported to China and dismantled at Guiyu. The state-run newspaper the People's Daily said in 2006 that Guiyu's more than 5,500 e-waste businesses employed over 30,000 people. According to the local government Web site, city businesses process 1.5 million tons of e-waste a year, pulling in $75 million in revenue. As much as 80 percent of it comes from overseas. It's as much as 10 times cheaper to export the waste to developing countries for the United States, as safety rules skyrocket domestic disposal costs, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Americans scrap 400 million electronic products per year and generated 2.6 million tons of e-waste in 2005. That year, a U.N report exposed up to 50 million metric tons of e-waste is generated annually, as people upgrade laptops and PCs and throw out old models.
A worker sorts through computer keyboardsMarch 26, 2008 in Guiyu, China.
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Metal extraction of circuit boards along with the open dumping of waste and ash residue into open water and streams has destroyed the well water and ground water of Guiyu undrinkable, and water is trucked in from distant villages. Undercover investigators from Greenpeace China collected sediment and water samples from Guiyu's Lianjiang River for testing in Hong Kong, and discovered one water sample showed levels of lead to be 190 times higher than the safe level of drinking water set by the World Health Organization.
Workers tear apart mobile phones.
Children in Guiyu, China's e-waste epicenter, have a much higher leadpoisoning rate, 69% in 2006, and lower IQ scores than children elsewhere, according to Shantou University.
A worker heats up a computer board on a steel surface heated by charcoal to remove computer chips
Circuit boards typically contain gold, silver and other precious metals, and are easily extracted by heating. With the scrap metal market booming and the value of recyclable circuit boards, there seems to be no end soon for Guiyu's environmental woes.
A computer board on a steel surface heated by charcoal to remove computer chips.
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A worker removes and sorts chips from a mobile phone
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Residents wash their clothes on a polluted river bank March 26, 2008 in Guiyu, China.
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Environmentalist Ma Jun at a river April 6, 2006 in Beijing. The former journalist has emerged as a powerful advocate in China, exposing the potentially catastrophic results of rampant growth.
Cyclists ride by trash.
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Telephone casings are transported on tricycles March 26, 2008 in Guiyu, China.
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Toys are torn apart and sorted by their plastic quality.
Workers unload wires to be stripped of copper and steel.
Workers sort through plastics casings.
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A young girl disassembles computer CD players.
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A worker rests while sorting through stripped computer boards.
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