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Most "Recycled" electronics are sent back to china at least in part Edit: summary at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste_in_China https://en.m.wik

Most "Recycled" electronics are sent back to china at least in part Edit: summary at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_waste_in_China

Teever 9y ago
Sure but it seems a little inefficient to send them individually is my point.
- icebraining 9y ago
  You never ship them individually, you use containers. And it's probably quite efficient: the shipping boats have to return to China anyway to get more stuff.
  - jdietrich 9y ago
    It's basically free. There's far more stuff coming from China to the west than vice-versa. A ship can't travel empty, but needs to be ballasted with an appropriate weight of cargo. If there isn't enough booked cargo on the return leg to China, they'll make up the weight with scrap metal or rubble.
  - Teever 9y ago
    I'm referring to the shipping of the broken goods to amazon individually. That's the part I'm critical of. Sure, send them back to China, I don't care, it just seems silly that we would all just mail our broken junk back one piece at a time to AMazon who then puts it in a container and sends it to China. Better to take it to alocal recycling facility for them to send it en masse. Have Amazon give you a voucher to handle the recycling fee.
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Trucks coming from the Amazon warehouse also have to come back. Still, Amazon just gifted me an item when I tried to return it since I ordered it by mistake (and I was honest on the form). I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to avoid recycling returns too.
WillReplyfFood 9y ago
Most Recycled electronics are shortcuting on the full cycle and get soldered right back into your brand new phone
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
China is trying to shut this game down because it is bad for their own environment.
- amichal 9y ago
  This is good. It also appears that a larger share of US e-waste is actually handled in the US then I remembered (its been trending up since the 1990s i think). I have no idea of the numbers but environmental regulations be equal (which they are not but we can one day they are) this seems more efficient to my brain.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    Actually, that is more about rare earth elements being recovered, ever since the Chinese supply scare a few years ago (which is also related to the environment as rare earth processing is incredibly dirty if done cheaply). Anyways, there is a lot more effort to recycle and re-use these elements for economic reasons.

Teever 9y ago

Sure but it seems a little inefficient to send them individually is my point.

icebraining 9y ago
You never ship them individually, you use containers. And it's probably quite efficient: the shipping boats have to return to China anyway to get more stuff.
- jdietrich 9y ago
  It's basically free. There's far more stuff coming from China to the west than vice-versa. A ship can't travel empty, but needs to be ballasted with an appropriate weight of cargo. If there isn't enough booked cargo on the return leg to China, they'll make up the weight with scrap metal or rubble.
- Teever 9y ago
  I'm referring to the shipping of the broken goods to amazon individually. That's the part I'm critical of. Sure, send them back to China, I don't care, it just seems silly that we would all just mail our broken junk back one piece at a time to AMazon who then puts it in a container and sends it to China. Better to take it to alocal recycling facility for them to send it en masse. Have Amazon give you a voucher to handle the recycling fee.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Trucks coming from the Amazon warehouse also have to come back. Still, Amazon just gifted me an item when I tried to return it since I ordered it by mistake (and I was honest on the form). I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to avoid recycling returns too.

WillReplyfFood 9y ago

Most Recycled electronics are shortcuting on the full cycle and get soldered right back into your brand new phone

seanmcdirmid 9y ago

China is trying to shut this game down because it is bad for their own environment.

amichal 9y ago
This is good. It also appears that a larger share of US e-waste is actually handled in the US then I remembered (its been trending up since the 1990s i think). I have no idea of the numbers but environmental regulations be equal (which they are not but we can one day they are) this seems more efficient to my brain.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  Actually, that is more about rare earth elements being recovered, ever since the Chinese supply scare a few years ago (which is also related to the environment as rare earth processing is incredibly dirty if done cheaply). Anyways, there is a lot more effort to recycle and re-use these elements for economic reasons.