need to add title here

The Electronic Wasteland

November 18, 2008 9:04 AM

Where do the millions of computer monitors, cell phones and other electronic refuse our society generates end up? Scott Pelley reports.

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by paoconstantino August 31, 2009 12:07 PM EDT
Great, great report!!! I think we all have to be responsible for our waste, no only the e-waste. It's not easy but we need to be aware of what's happening to it (wether we decide to recycle or not), and of course we can't fall for every "green good intention" company, which in this case are making a profit from pollution. It's sad that a company form Colorado one of the cleanest States is sending all this junk to poor countries.

Solutions for the ones who asked, is to REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and be RESPONSIBLE!
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by goodbooyy August 30, 2009 7:44 PM EDT
those guys who chased them simply thought it was something new for them to dismantle, shame they can't speak English.
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by christopherkoch August 30, 2009 7:29 PM EDT
I understand the unacceptable that is happening at the end of our electronics life cycles however in addition to this story, I wonder what toxic waste is being produced when making the same products which by the way for the most part are not made in the USA. Is it not a double wammy to the poor folks that provide the USA with their toys? Chris
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by fydlstyx August 30, 2009 7:16 PM EDT
Am I the only person who sees the irony of those hundreds of cars idling in line for HOURS in CO waiting to "recycle" their electronics?
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by WR3A August 30, 2009 11:40 AM EDT
The segment has led to a lot of improvement, but it is unfortunately one-sided. You will notice that the computer monitors shown in Hong Kong (in the helicopter ride with Jim and reporter Scott Pelley) are not to be seen in the village scrap scenes. They are actually sold to the factories which made the monitors in the first place, here is a link. http://picasaweb.google.com/ingenthron/BigSecretMonitorFactoriesLegitimateReuseVsEWaste?feat=directlink
What those factories need are better USA suppliers, who don't mix in junk (like the Colorado company clearly did). However, BAN.org is calling for a boycott of those refurbishing factories. Just a coffee boycott does not benefit coffee farmers, a used computer boycott will not improve the lives of the factory workers shown in our link... which in fact are doing a heck of a job. They just wish they could buy monitors from BAN-certified companies, instead of having to get what they need from unscrupulous jerks. Search "WR3A" for more information on "Fair Trade" approaches to this market.
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by energycheck July 10, 2009 11:03 AM EDT
My big bug! If they think recycling TVs and monitors is a big issue wait till all those CFL's hit the waste dump. They will never survive a trip to China to be "recycled". They are fragile and expose all living things to the toxic mercury vapors. Wooo hoo we save energy to do what to ourselves???

Any one have a safe and sane way to deal with this?
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by rafeals April 3, 2009 8:02 AM EDT
Sorry,I made a mistake. It's "same things" not "Same thins":)
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by rafeals April 3, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
I live in Shantou,China and this small town called Guiyu is not far away from my city. It's quite sad when we face this situation. The local government should be blamed. A government with responsibility should refuse these harmful substances' import just because the negative effects to our people's life and the next generation. And I think the western society should find a better solutions to solve this problem,not only the same thins happened in China, but also Africa, Vietnam, Eastern Europe and South America.
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by indianscout1 November 12, 2008 2:49 PM EST
they are just criminals and murderers, for *** money.
Jail them for more then 10 years.
OBAMA CATCH THEM AND FAST
===========================
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by indianscout1 November 12, 2008 2:47 PM EST
The exporters who do this business, should be jailed fior teth of years, rhey are just criminals and murderes.
Obama catch them||||||||
================
and fast.
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by bcj2008 November 12, 2008 12:37 AM EST
I am from Colorado and I know people who used to work at Executive Recycling and They have told me that Richter and Olsen were fully aware of these shipment and were shipping up to two containers a week the only shipments that went out as reusable materials were to africa the shipment that was tracked was relatively small compared to many others
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by jmachen2817 November 11, 2008 6:39 PM EST
Re: High lead content of CRTs -- The glass in a CRT does have a high lead oxide content, but it is permanently combined into such glass. In that form it is perfectly safe and the lead can never leach out into the environment. The Chinese workers are probably being exposed to lead while reclaiming tin-lead solder from circuit boards.
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by hud5104 November 11, 2008 6:07 PM EST
Thanks for this story, I think people don''t think about things like this and how it hurts others. We are suppose to be the country that is better off then some. I didn''t know we were endangering others with our greed. we need to have a better way of disposing our computers and cells, but who do we trust? now a days it''s all about the money. Now I''m going to think twice when I need to dispose of my cells and computers.

Devoted Listener
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by frazz4 November 11, 2008 4:53 PM EST
These facilities are a horrorshow. Unfortunately, we created this problem when several America states, including California, banned the disposal of computers without ensuring that a recycling infrastructure existed. Landfilling e-waste is safe because landfills have a neutral pH and do not create leachate of e-waste components. Of course we should recycle electronics products, but let''s make sure a recycling infrastructure is in place first.
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by bussowner1 November 11, 2008 12:20 PM EST
We live in a world in which we pay ficticiously low prices for consumer goods. If the cost of a monitor is, say $250 usd, and the cost of properly disposing and recycling that monitor when it becoms e-waste is $500.00 (using environmentally resposible methods and real wages) then the cost of that monitor to the consumer should be $750.00! Let''s stop fooling ourselves as a society! If we want to effectively deal with the growing problem of e-waste, then we must pay higher prices for electronic goods which would include the cost of recycling them once their useful life is over. Dealing with the problem in such a way would also be good for the economy because the there would be a new (sustainable) industry created around recycling those items.
Let''s hope that our new governmet recognizes the problem and mandates the industries involved to act responsible. We can not afford to continue degrading our environment and human life the way your report showed us!
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by woltra-2009 November 11, 2008 10:57 AM EST
Sad. A much better plan for all that stuff is to donate it to people who don''t have computers at all, they won''t care if they have the latest greatest stuff. How many of those monitors were still working before they were thrown crashing into the container? Could they have been fixed? We bought our tv back in 1995 and it has seen a repair show 3 times. Don''t just consume and discard, FIX these things and keep using them. Buy a digital converter box instead of buying a new tv. DONATE YOUR WORKING EQUIPMENT!!!!
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by user__1 November 11, 2008 3:28 AM EST
What can we do as American consumers?

Stop buying cheap *** from China would be a good start.
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by okaygo November 10, 2008 9:17 PM EST
Wow, our school was there with the Computer Round up. I was there helping with the computers, all of us had no idea we were throwing computers to be put into a landfill in China
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by okaygo November 10, 2008 9:16 PM EST
Wow, our school was there with the Computer Round up. I was there helping with the computers, all of us had no idea we were throwing computers to be put into a landfill in China
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by energycheck November 10, 2008 8:21 PM EST
Going Green? How do we stay ahead of all the technology without producing all this trash? My phone and TV was outdated by legislation this year. Many will get rid of the "old" TV and where does it go? Will it end up in the China trash dump?
My cell phone was not adapable to the hands free technology. What is the "green" method of recycling? Who can we trust. This report certainly gives us the inside scoop.
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