Eee - ks waste !!!

When electrical and electronic gadgets such as computers , televisions , DVDs , cellphones , and refrigerators are trashed , they make up e - waste . in European countries and the US , e - waste makes up 1% of the total solid waste , and by 2010 , it will grow to 2 % . In the European Union , each person makes about 14 kilo grams of e - waste every year ; in China and India , if it is less than 1 kilo gram per person in a year . 

Is it all waste ???

By the end of 2007 , we had made forty million metric tonnes of e - waste , which could fill up a line of trucks , bumper to bumper , halfway around the world ! So , you may wonder , where does all this waste go ?? In many countries e - waste ends up in landfills . In Hong Kong , 10 % - 20 % of old computers go to a landfill . E - waste is also taken apart and burned to get metals , such as copper , from it . It is also sold to be dumped in other countries .

My trash is your trash 

Up to 80 % of the US 's e - waste , which can be recycled , is sent to China , Nigeria , India and Pakistan . The us would have to spend 25 dollars to recycle a computer , where as sending it to India costs only 2 to 3 dollars .

Isn't that a good thing ???

If all the e - waste that is export by the Us and European countries were recycled , it would be good for our planet . But this is not what happens . In Guiyu , China piles of e - waste clog the Lianjiang  river . In Accra , Ghana , e- waste from the Us and China is ripped apart for its useful parts and the rest is burned or dumped . Dumping , burning and even stripping e - waste for their parts is harmful to humans and the environment . The chemicals from e - waste enter human bodies , water , soil and air and are known to cause diseases like cancer .