Writer investigates China e-waste problem

Shanghai Scrap : Adam Minter, an American writer in Shanghai, writes on his blog about the shoddy conditions in Guiyu, a village in southern China’s Guangdong Province notorious for its reception of old household and commercial computers. Because of improper recycling methods, toxic fumes have been released into the air and the ground has become polluted with heavy metals. One of the surprising things Minter found during his investigation is that much of the e-waste is starting to come not from the US and Europe as in the past but from Southeast Asia and even China itself. In addition, he found Guiyu has now been accepting unwanted parts from new computers. Minter, who is gathering material for an upcoming book on the subject, discusses the problems he has had in approaching major manufacturers such as Samsung to find out how their products are ending up in Guiyu. Samsung, after all, is a member of the e-Stewards Initiative , a US-based nonprofit organization that works to stop the export of toxic waste to the developing world and deals only with responsible recyclers. Minter’s book is scheduled to be published by Bloomsbury Press in 2013.