They are doing this. When you send this crap (and non e-waste) crap to China, people are going out and making a living extracting whatever they can. They are pu

They are doing this. When you send this crap (and non e-waste) crap to China, people are going out and making a living extracting whatever they can. They are pulling out the copper and gold and aluminum and all the good stuff. You send them plastics? They'll tear it apart, melt it down, and resell it. There are entire villages who live in piles of our crap, and making their living off it, while slowing killing themselves. The problem as you've put it, is the health and safety issues. Which returns to why we send it to China to begin with. They don't care about health and safety, so it's dirt cheap. Extracting gold with acid baths? Guess which one is cheaper, the open pools of acid on the ground, or the one in a processing facility with fume hoods, safety equipment, proper monitoring and disposal?