Slashdot Mirror


Digital Waste Worth More Than Gold, Copper Ore

tcd004 writes "Imagine sheer mountains of discarded Pentium IIIs, tractor trailers overflowing with discarded wall warts. Photojournalist Natalie Behring visited Guiyu, China and documented the world's biggest digital dump where, for $2 per day, the locals sort, disassemble, and pulverize hundreds of tons of e-waste. The payoff is huge: computer waste contains 17 times more gold than gold ore, 40 times more copper than copper ore. But the detritus also leaches chemicals and metals into local water supplies."

2 of 302 comments (clear)

  1. The shipbreaking essay is pretty sweet too by tcd004 · · Score: 5, Informative

    anyone who can dismantle supertankers with their bare hands deserves some respect.

  2. Re:Environmentally irresponsibility by Xiph · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, the term girlfriend (as in more than just friendly with) is "novia", "amiga" is a friend that happens to be a girl.
    Of course, this is slashdot, so i guess parent is right..

    --
    Blah blah sig blah blah blah irony blah blah