Accumulation of Electronic Waste

Three of my students put together a phenomenal presentation on the accumulation of electronic waste and what happens to a vast amount of it after it is tossed out of the user's home, never to be seen by them again, but to be affected by it again is another story. With permission of Dongjune Lee, Jeongsoo Yoo and Seulki Lee I am able to publish with presentation here. I sincerely thank my students for their great effort in making the presentation and for allowing me to share it!

Usable parts are manually disassembled and separated by metals for recycling. 

Workers in Guiyu work without gloves or any protective clothing. When tested, workers had 82% higher than average levels of lead in their blood. Not only are workers affected, but local water is contaminated and cannot be purified for safe consumption. So why do workers recycle when they know of the risks? A worker gets approximately $8/day for his/her work which is about five times higher than what would be received as a regular farmer or laborer.

Leaders of developing countries must use foresight, but this is hard when economics drive politics
and ready revenue promises quicker development.

Leaders of developed countries as a whole are driven by maintaining momentum for more economic development and expansionism of technology, resulting in economic development overshadowing social welfare. Leaders of developed countries must take a step back and consider the consequences outside of their own country that their push for more technological and economic development are causing. In short, they should act more responsibly for the welfare of the entire planet and not the welfare of the national budget.