Essay (Final draft)

Reducing E-waste: Suggestions for Guiyu, China

The population size of China was 1.344 billion in 2012; 1.155 billion mobile-phones were sold in China in that year (“Global mobile statistics 2013”). A simple calculation shows that 85.9% of the entire population own the mobile-phones. This number convincingly illustrates that the proliferation of the technology is unprecedented in today’s world. It is also undeniable that such technology has provided great convenience to the people. Meanwhile, millions of tons of electronic wastes are generated. People nowadays change their mobile-phone more frequently as they possess more purchasing power compares to the past. This further deteriorate the environmental pollution and human health issues. Therefore, the Chinese government needs to take some actions to ameliorate such conditions.

Wastson (2013), stated that according to United Nations’ data, about 70% of electronic wastes globally generated ended up in China. He explained that Guiyu, one of the town in Guangdong province, has been “a major hub for the disposal of e-waste.” Mankind has stepped into a new era, which most of objects are technological orientated. As a result, more and electronic devices are being produced. In 2011, over 3.41 million tons of e-waste were generated in the U.S. Of this amount, only 24.9 % was recycled (“Facts and Figures on E-Waste and Recycling”). The statistics convincingly show that the regulation of e-waste is insufficient, therefore, the local government of Guiyu should reinforce more on the regulation of e-waste. In the Wastson’s article, it is also stated that “the Chinese government had some success regulating e-waste disposal with a ‘Home Appliance Old for New Rebate Program,’ which was tested from 2009 to 2011” (para. 42).  However, the conditions has little changes despite of the efforts the government has put in (“Electronic waste in Guiyu”). Therefore, even the data of Guiyu is not shown here, it can still be concluded that the condition in Guiyu was worse than that in the US. The government should encourage local electronic product companies to recycle the old electronic devices and raise people’s awareness of the negative impacts from e-waste.

Recycling is actually a huge project, which requires a lot of efforts to be put in. The local government of Guiyu should advocate recycling among all the electronic companies. The companies could set up a few recycle points for the local citizens to throw away their unwanted or spoiled old electronic equipment such as computers, cell phones, washing machines. Then, the companies could reuse some of the components for testing, invention purposes. However, by doing so, more works could be done by the companies. They have to put extra efforts and time to dismantle all the devices they have recycled. The companies might not have the interests to launch such recycling program base on the cost. So, the role of the government here is crucial. The government could probably provide some pecuniary incentives to the companies, which would cover the extra efforts and time for dismantling the recycled devices.

According to Lu (2008), Greenpeace volunteer Lai Yun conducted a survey in Guiyu Town. Eighty percent of the town's 150,000 inhabitants are engaged in the business of dismantling electrical junk. The 52-square-kilometer town not only disposes of domestic electronic garbage, but also imports waste from abroad. From the statistics, it can be concluded that the amount the e-waste is incredibly huge, which heavily affects the environmental and people living condition. Another method to reduce the electronic junks in there is by setting up a few more electronic disposal points in other parts of China. The e-waste condition in Guiyu will then be improved. However, the root cause is not really solved, the total amount of e-waste remains the same.

It is important to let people know the negative impacts of e-waste. Otherwise, people will lack the intention to do recycling. Therefore, the local government in Guiyu should further conduct some events or campaigns to help people get to know more about e-waste. One of the example is the “Greenpeace campaign in Europe.” Peoples who attend campaign might know the benefits from recycling e-waste. According to Hendricks (2012), benefits such as conservation of natural resources, preventing soil contamination by toxic chemicals and creating new jobs will be carried out.  So, people are encouraged the do recycling by the campaigns like that. The government in Guiyu could also hold similar campaigns for their citizen. The function of the campaign acts like an auxiliary to recycling. With more people know the benefits of the recycling and harm of e-waste, recycling will be much more efficient.

In conclusion, the government has already done something to control e-waste, but it is far from sufficient. In “Electronic Waste Dump of the World: Guiyu, China” (2011), it was stated that Guiyu was listed as the world’s second most polluted location on Earth. The condition in Guiyu is still awful. Of course the problem of e-waste cannot be solved in a short time: The entire society should work together as a whole to treat this problem seriously. Otherwise, it is hard to say that the world will not become the one in the movie “Wall-E”, a world full with garbage.



















Reference:
Electronic waste in Guiyu (n.d). Retrieved November 4, 2013 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste_in_Guiyu#Cleanup_efforts

Electronic Waste Dump of the World: Guiyu, China (2011, Jul 17). Retrieved November 4, 2013 from
http://sometimes-interesting.com/2011/07/17/electronic-waste-dump-of-the-world/

Facts and Figures on E-Waste and Recycling (2013, Sep 25). Retrieved November 4, 2013 from
http://www.electronicstakeback.com/wp-content/uploads/Facts_and_Figures_on_EWaste_and_Recycling.pdf

Hendricks, D. (2012, Aug 08) Green Jobs and Other Benefits of E-Waste Recycling. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from
http://www.ait-recycle.com/recycling-news/item/49-e-waste-recycling-brings-jobs-conservation-responsibility-to-communities

Lu, R. (2008, Jan 8) China Today: The problem of E-waste. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/238544.htm

Mobithinking (2013, May) Global mobile statistics 2013 Part A: Mobile subscribers; handset market share; mobile operators. Retrieved from October 14, 2013 from 
http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a

Watson, I. (2013, May 31) China: The electronic wastebasket of the world. Retrieved October 13, 2013 from
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/30/world/asia/china-electronic-waste-e-waste/index.html

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