The Mountains of e-Waste

Experts are worried about the "mountains of e-waste" piling-up in many foreign countries. Discarded monitors, computer towers, and other electronic goods are stacking-up in countries like India, China, Mexico, and portions of Africa, and experts say it is a danger to public health.

The amount of such waste is growing at a rate of about 40 tons annually, worldwide. Much of the older equipment ends-up in developing countries, which extract precious materials from them. However, not all of the countries actually possess the means by which to do so efficiently and the methods which they employ harm the atmosphere.

Experts urge these developing nations to shift their focus toward establishing state-of-the-art processing centers to alleviate the hazards which are, at this time, relatively low, but are set to increase dramatically in coming years.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010