The Wasteland

August 30, 2009 4:19 PM

Where does all the electronic refuse our society generates end up? Some of it is shipped illegally from the U.S. to China, reports Scott Pelley, where it is harming the environment and people.

Read Story: Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste

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by thomasli2011 August 1, 2011 9:40 PM EDT: Don't get shocked by what you see. Americans try to place yourself deeply into these people's lives and enviroments. In poor countries, you are going to find poor working conditions and high health risks. That is just the common sense.

If you dont have food to survive and not education, you are going to do what ever it takes and find what ever you have to survive. Fortunately we in US dont have to go through that and we offten take it for granted. America is a super power in the world. We invade nations so that we would not go through proverty.

Simple as that.; Reply to this comment


by Drakenflyxyz December 29, 2010 9:14 AM EST: Again 60 minutes has skewed another story by not doing a proper follow up! It's amazing how many people are suckered into the ratings game to help make money for a show that doesn't deserve to be on the air. IF 60 minutes had bothered in ACTUALLY doing a follow up the story they would've discovered that the container that was sent to china from Colorado was purchased and picked up from the warehouse by a CANADA Group and that ICE did a full investigation into this matter and CLEARED the company of ANY wrong doing! Brandon was correct in stating: 60 minutes DID NOT have it facts straight! 60 minutes needs to change its name to "skewed in 60 minutes"!; Reply to this comment


by lorenzo23462 September 24, 2010 6:41 PM EDT: So here I am, trying to show this story to my class of 13-14 year students and we all get to watch this commercial for Viagra. THEN, we have to watch the Viagra Link that sits in the upper left hand corner of the screen.
Thanks CBS - get off your moral HIGH HORSE and clean up your web site so that it is a suitable teaching tool!; Reply to this comment


by YouveGottoagree September 2, 2010 12:12 PM EDT: Oh sure - CBS, it's always America who causes all the problems. China also accepts trash from the REST OF THE WORLD - so, those piles of computers aren't JUST from the bad ol' U S of A. It's not our fault the trash ends up there - if they didn't want it - China would NOT allow it into their country.

To the other writers who suggest we need ANOTHER TAX are not thinking. A new tax will not - repeat - NOT cure this issue. Think man!

And the other who said "
The truth be told, corporations who produce these products are responsible for our toxic waste problems" is another NON THINKING person. The consumer is responsible because they demand (and get) what they want. It's a free society.

PLEASE - nearly every story produced by CBS is pointed at the nasty big and once mighty United States as the producer of all problems and an even larger Government is needed to fix it. I wanna throw up.; Reply to this comment


by hpatterson October 26, 2009 11:20 AM EDT: I just bought a new iPod Nano. I was so pissed to discover that my older iPod speakers wouldn't charge the new Nano. I am not about to drop another $100 on new speakers if the old ones work perfectly fine. Thank you Apple for catapulting us into this mess.; Reply to this comment


by Tripflare September 28, 2009 9:55 AM EDT: outstanding investigative reporting and follow through; Reply to this comment


by StanSalot September 23, 2009 4:29 PM EDT: After reading the comments from Alex Hofford above I thought I would add this.

While I am just as concerned about the issues of e-waste mismanagement in China, India, Africa, Mexico and other parts of the world, addressing the source of the problem is the only way to really have a long term impact.

Under my leadership, an International Certification Program was developed in 2005 that certifies Manufacturing Companies that demonstrate the reduction and/or elimination of Hazardous Substances used in Electrical and Electronic Products. This includes the materials used in packaging, shipping and the production process. More than 1900 manufacturing companies have thus far demonstrated their compliance through 3rd party technical assessments. The program known as IECQ HSPM Certification is growing worldwide with China and Taiwan Manufactures leading the way.

I am sorry to say that the USA is the slowest country to give this program favorable consideration even though the program was created here in America by Americans. The most common reason given by industry for rejecting the program is cost. In reality the program is saving countless dollars for the companies that have embraced it.

American consumers have the power to change this devastating situation by demanding that the products that they purchase are produced by companies that have IECQ HSPM Certification. This would drive industry worldwide to build Hazardous Substance Free products and demonstrate their compliance through an established network of accredited independent certification bodies.

In the United States this program is administered by a Not For Profit organization, The Electronic Component Certification Board. They operate under the authority of the American National Standards Institution, (ANSI) and the United State National Council to the International Electro-Technical Commission for Quality, (IECQ).

For more information please visit the ECCB.org web site.
Or
IECQ HSPM Documentary by Quality Digest Introducing the IECQ HSPM GREEN Manufacturing Certification Program. The documentary will be presented in monthly segments beginning this month with the introduction. watch video @ the Quality Digest website: intro > part 1> part 2 >

http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/fda-compliance-video/special-report-hazardous-substance-process-management-intro.html-0

http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/fda-compliance-video/special-report-hazardous-substance-process-management-part-1.html

http://www.qualitydigest.com/inside/fda-compliance-video/special-report-hazardous-substance-process-management-part-2.html

http://certificates.iecq.org/iecq/iecqweb.nsf/HSPM?OpenView&Start=1&Count=30&Collapse=1#1; Reply to this comment


by alexhofford01 September 15, 2009 12:13 PM EDT: My name is Alex Hofford and I'm a photographer based in Hong Kong. I went to Guiyu back in May, and have blogged about it since over a period of weeks. Here are the links to what I saw and what I think about the subject:-

http://www.alexhoffordphotography.com/node/2206

http://www.alexhoffordphotography.com/node/2232

http://www.alexhoffordphotography.com/node/2223

http://www.alexhoffordphotography.com/node/2220

http://www.alexhoffordphotography.com/node/2238

Comments welcome.

I don't know of any reports more recent than mine, but I would love to know where the CRT monitors are being broken now as it has gone totally underground in Guiyu. I would also like to know what the latest situation is.

Alex Hofford; Reply to this comment


by StanSalot September 12, 2009 8:33 PM EDT: I applaud 60 Minutes for airing this report and hope that they will find it equally important to do a follow up report to show their viewers the efforts taken by members of the US National Authorized Institution, The Electronic Component Certification Board (ECCB) to address this.

In my role as President of the ECCB, I have had the opportunity to help develop and implement a United States Standard [EIA/ECCB ? 954] that was adopted internationally as IECQ QC 080000 to certify manufacturers who produce Hazardous Substance Free Electrical and Electronic Consumer products.

Starting in 2005 under the International Electrotechnical Commission Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components, [IECQ] US Sponsored Certification Bodies began providing 3rd party IECQ HSPM Certification to manufacturers that demonstrate hazardous substance free manufacturing compliance. With more than 1895 certified companies today, we believe we are beginning to make some progress.; Reply to this comment


by beadbuddy September 10, 2009 10:32 AM EDT: What can people do? You must have missed the theme of this segment. Consumers can feel guilty for buying the computers, T.V.s and electronic equipment. That is it. That is the preferred solution.

What can companies do? That's a loaded question! Obviously they can stop producing this kind of toxic waste and stop forcing folks to purchase new, and newer and newest every year. But they want US to feel guilty, that way we won't blame them for the toxic waste that nobody wants to deal with.

I had to get rid of a perfectly good computer that could no longer download the "band with pigs" (like cbsnews.com): internet sites that demand constant computer upgrades in order to show the flashy ads for products like Lipitor. Yes, I find Lipitor and Cbsnews.com directly responsible for this toxic waste. But lets blame and shame the consumer for this waste, shall we? Where do you think my very useful, (but useless to this site), computer is now? Probably China.

I was also forced to junk an old T.V. set because of the new DTV conversion. How many TONS of useable T.V.s are filling our dumps because of that? And who did that conversion really help? Networks like CBS. The coupon program was a complete failure. I had a coupon, but I was never able to find a single store that had a converter box in stock after looking dozens of times. It appears that the corporations did NOT want the consumer to re-fit the old T.V.s but junk them and buy new. More toxic waste.

The truth be told, corporations who produce these products are responsible for our toxic waste problems and shows like 60 minutes are hired to cover up their culpability lest CBS itself be blamed as well. It is a conflict of interest for CBS to report on electronic goods when your company relies heavily on the ability of your advertisers to coerce consumers into the endless cycle of waste they insidiously promote and you shame us for.; Reply to this comment