21 February 2008
A dangerous new waste stream is rapidly emerging...
The UN estimates that some 20 to 50m tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide each year, comprising more than 5 percent of all municipal solid waste. The fate of large quantities of this so-called e-waste is unknown. Much is exported, often illegally, for dumping in Africa or for rudimentary recovery in Asia, where workers at scrapyards are exposed to toxic chemicals when the products are broken apart and as water, soil and air are polluted.
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