Amy Zader Program for Teaching East Asia China: Environmental Issues and Challenges Summer Institute

O5CDU

 See Shapiro (2012) Chapter 6, “Environmental Justice and the Displacement of Environmental Harm”  Examples of Environmental Injustice: Love Canal Japan nuclear power plants

 Comes from TVs, cellphones, computers, printers, batteries, etc.  Each made up of hundreds of materials and metals  Makes up nearly 5% of all solid waste, nearly the same as plastic  80% of US e-waste sent to be recycled actually gets illegally exported

 Once a rice village in southern China  1990s: began to see the economic benefits of accepting imported e-waste  2001: First received attention for e-waste related pollution  By 2005/2006 the problem had continued: 21 villages handling E-waste 80% of E-waste was imported to China Increasingly waste is coming from within China

 DIOXINS – chemical components formed during combustion; collect in oil and sediment  HEAVY METALS – contaminates soil and water (lead, zinc, iron, cadmium, copper, mercury, arsenic, etc.)

 88% of children suffer from lead poisoning  High rates of miscarriage  Long-term exposure to heavy metals is carcinogenic  Damage to central and endocrine systems

 “Exporting Harm,” Basel Action Network, 2001  “Toxic Tea Party,” Greenpeace, 2007

 2000: illegal to import e-waste into China  Has a dedicated policy and legislative mechanisms in place to deal with e waste  BUT has a poor record of implementation; corruption and loopholes exist

 No legally enforceable federal policies or standards  US has not ratified the Basel Convention  US government does not keep track of e- waste exports  Case of Denver electronics

 l/en/campaigns/climate-change/cool- it/Campaign-analysis/Guide-to-Greener- Electronics/  Industrial Ecology: material and energy flows through industrial systems Circular Economy

 Poverty vs. Poison?  National and international attention on Guiyu has forced officials to clean it up  If not Guiyu, where will e-waste go?