By staff reporter LU RUCAI
Before Xu Feng sold his old personal computer to a mobile scrap
collector, he called Dell's recycling hotline. Since the end of
2006, Dell has run a recycling service for both corporate and
private users. When he was told Dell could "collect his computer
within a week, but wouldn't provide any recompense," Xu decided to
sell it to a mobile scrap collector for RMB 200.
Xu's story points to a fundamental problem with China's E-waste
recycling industry. Despite the immense amount of electronic waste
being generated in China, "official" recycling operations simply
don't receive enough material to make recycling a profitable
business. Instead, 90 percent of China's electronic waste goes to
family workshops, whose manual dismantling practices create highly
toxic secondary pollution.
The accelerating technological redundancy turnaround times are
making the waste problem even worse. Based on CBC Market Research's
latest survey of the urban cell phone market, over 60 percent of
China's legion of mobile users have replaced their phones at least
once. Replacement frequency is the highest in Guangzhou, where
users have gone through an average of three phones each. Data from
Searchina Co., Ltd. shows that in Shanghai, cell phones are now
replaced on average every two to three years. For some
"fashionistas," keeping a phone for less than 12 months is not
uncommon.
This cycle of consumption is generating astronomical amounts of
electronic garbage. According to statistics from the State
Environmental Protection Administration of China, every year the
nation throws away a staggering 30 million cell phones. Added to
these are 4 million refrigerators, and 5 million each of TV sets,
washing machines and PCs. China's daily electronic waste output
adds up to some 3,000 tons. In addition to this domestic garbage,
vast amounts of overseas electronic waste is being dumped illegally
in China, most of it officially imported as "secondhand goods."
Where's the waste going?
In 2006, Greenpeace's Beijing Toxins Office launched an
investigation into where the capital's electronic waste was going.
As Xu Feng's story indicates, the investigation found most of the
city's discarded electronic products are purchased by moble scrap
collectors. The street dealers convey these items to areas on
Beijing's periphery such as Houbajia in Haidian District, or
Dongxiaokou in Changping District. Here the goods are sorted, and
those in working order, or only needing minor repairs, are fixed
and cleaned to be resold as second-hand goods. The remainder are
sent to a distribution center near Shibalidian Township, Chaoyang
District, or transported directly to Guangdong Province in the
south, where they are manually disassembled in family
workshops.
A few months ago, Greenpeace volunteer Lai Yun conducted a
survey in Guiyu Town in Shantou, Guangdong Province, China's
largest electronic waste disassembly area. 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. Wu Yuping, chief scientist of the State Environmental
Protection Administration of China, explains, "To send electronic
waste to China, American merchants need to pay Chinese businessmen,
but it's well worth their while. If it costs RMB 300 to dispose of
a certain amount of waste in the U.S., it will only cost them RMB
100 to illegally export it to China." According to the Greenpeace
report, about 70 percent of the world's 40 million tons of
electronic waste is sent to China each year, most of it passing
through Guiyu.
Lai Yun's report continues, "Most of the electronic garbage
disposal industry in Guiyu comprises family workshops, which
generally lack the necessary equipment and technology, to say
nothing of the funds, required to control the pollution created in
disassembling electronic goods. To save costs, the family workshops
usually disassemble the garbage in the fastest and most direct way
possible, causing severe pollution to the surrounding soil and
groundwater."
Computers, cell phones and TV sets contain a cornucopia of toxic
substances, including cadmium, mercury and lead, all of which have
extremely negative impacts on human health. When electronic goods
are disassembled manually in small workshops that have virtually no
protective measures in place, both workers and the surrounding
environment are poisoned. But so long as mobile scrap collectors
are willing to pay for electronic waste, there is little incentive
for Chinese consumers to hand their old electronic products to
larger recylcers capable of disposing of these items in a safer
manner.
The economics of the recycling industry
Presently there are no regulations governing E-waste recycling
in China, so Chinese manufacturers face a pressing cost issue in
trying to make their operations more environmentally friendly. Safe
recycling of electronic waste is expensive, so if enterprises were
to introduce such practices it would undoubtedly push up costs,
which in turn would curtail the price advantage Chinese
manufacturers enjoy over most of their overseas competitors. And
few individual consumers in China are wealthy enough to willingly
foot the bill for safely recycling old household electric
appliances.
Despite this, after Lenovo and Dell announced free recycling
computer collection services in December 2006, HP initiated a
similar scheme in September 2007. Yue Yihua, director of
Greenpeace's BeijingToxins Office, lauds these developments; "Safe
recycling is a key link in the product's overall lifecycle, and is
important in avoiding secondary pollution." But the fact is when
faced with the choice of handing their used goods to manufacturers
with no compensation, or selling them to scrap collectors, the vast
majority of Chinese consumers chose the latter. For this reason
critics have labeled the recycling services offered by the computer
companies nothing more than fancy tricks.
"Dell does not pay private users for their old computers, even
when the products have secondary value," said Mr. Ding from Dell's
recycling department. "Consequently, we receive few items from
private consumers." There is some financial incentive for companies
to hand over their old computers, but only if they recycle 30 or
more machines at one time. If the quantity is less, companies are
required to pay Dell to collect old computers.
The problem with the economics of E-waste recycling in China is
graphically illustrated by the situation of various trial recycling
projects designated by the National Development and Reform
Commission. Test operations have been set up in Beijing, Tianjin,
Qingdao and Hangzhou. Huaxing Environmental Protection Development
Co., Ltd. is the experimental unit for Beijing, but unlike their
counterparts in Guiyu, they face the ironic situation of not being
able to obtain enough waste. According to company executive Wang
Yong, although Huaxing has signed recycling agreements with
electric appliance supermarkets like Suning and Gome, the company
has to purchase most of its material from scrap collectors.
As Wang Yong explains, "There is no legal basis to the E-waste
recycling industry," so most goods end up in the hands of street
mobile scrap collectors, who can afford to buy the goods because
they are ultimately recycled in the cheapest way possible. If
environmentally sound operations like Huaxing have to pay for their
recycling materials, their businesses simply aren't viable. Huaxing
has an annual capacity of treating 1.2 million pieces, but
currently only has one production line in operation dismantling TV
sets and computers. The company's situation is far from unique;
Nanjing Jinze Company also has no way of supporting itself due to a
dearth of scrap appliances.
Regulations:?a crucial step
While safe recycling operations are not currently viable in
China, it is hoped the government will follow the example of other
countries and introduce financial subsidies for recyclers, and
begin policing the unofficial recycling industry.? Regulations
for the Administration of Recycle and Disposal of Waste Household
Electric Appliances and Electronic Products was drafted in 2004 to
solicit public opinions, but so far it has not been made a
decree.
Without legislation that brings some financial advantage to both
consumers and legitimate recycling operations, it seems unlikely
that the companies like Huaxing will ever be able to compete with
bicycle-bound mobile scrap collectors. But if the industry is
regulated to help put safe recycling operations on a sound
financial footing, the potential rewards for these enterprises are
enormous. "The road is long and tortuous, but future prospects are
bright," says Wang Yong with a wry smile. Only by benefiting larger
recycling enterprises will safer recycling practices replace the
outdated mobile scrap collectors and family workshops.
(China Today January 8, 2008)
