Recycling, It's Just a Word

Remember that scene in the Shawshank Redemption where Morgan Freeman comes up for parole the last time? The officer asks him if he has been rehabilitated and he answers:

Not a day goes by I don't feel regret, and not because I'm in here
or because you think I should. I look back on myself the way I
was...stupid kid who did that terrible crime...wish I could talk
sense to him. Tell him how things are. But I can't. That kid's long
gone, this old man is all that's left, and I have to live with that.
"Rehabilitated?" That's just a word, so you just go on ahead and
stamp that form there, sonny, and stop wasting my time.

Let's fast forward ten years and interview an IT professional who sent all their eWaste to China. The interviewer asks them if they have recycled all their equipment; they answer:

Not a day goes by I don't feel regret, and not because you think I should. I look back on myself the way I was... a stupid IT professional who thought it was ok to send my eWaste to China ...wish I could talk sense to him. Tell him how things are. But I can't. That professional's long gone, this old man is all that's left, and I have to live with that. "Recycling in China?" That's just a word, so you just go on ahead and stamp that form there, sonny, and stop wasting my time.

The eWaste guide has some disturbing images on how various forms of computer equipment, including Cabling, Monitors, and Circuit boards are recycled in China. The only thing they missed is that some of this work is done by children - I guess they scattered when the cameras came, but this report got them.

The US is sending 50 to 80 percent of its eWaste to places like these. If you need more horror, here's the study released by Greenpeace on the topic.