You mention a social problem, but it's an economic / capitalist problem; countries have been exporting and trading e-waste to the highest bidder that in turn se

You mention a social problem, but it's an economic / capitalist problem; countries have been exporting and trading e-waste to the highest bidder that in turn sends it to the cheapest labor to get any value out of it. Waste should be processed as close to the source as possible, and waste should not be exported unless it actually gets processed properly, that is, if exporting to a country with good recycling facilities instead of putting it in landfill/incinerators. But the checks and balances for that are poor. IIRC / I have no source and may be making it up, in western countries, plastic is ticked off as "recycled" when it's been separated and baled up; if it's then exported and burned, landfill'd or chucked in the ocean doesn't matter anymore, the country fulfilled its pledge of recycling plastic.