Jim Puckett flies above the Pacific Ocean looking for the electronic waste of America. He wants people to know what happens to their devices as the USA produces more e-waste than any other country. Lead and mercury can be found in the devices, and there are around 50,000 trucks full of electronics recycled every year.
Basel Action Network have spent the last two years researching and have discovered that some electronic wastes are being exported rather than recycled. Along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, they have placed 200 tracking devices into old computers and then sent them to centers that advertise themselves as green or environmentally friendly.
As a result, it was possible to track the devices and see where the property had ended up. Almost a third were sent to other countries – some of them clocking up 12,000 miles and of these six had been deposited in Oregon and Washington. Some Wastes were found in China, Thailand, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mexico, and Canada.
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Puckett met Chines journalist Dongxia Su, and they looked around the region of New Territories in Hong Kong where a lot of the electronic devices ended up. Following the tracker’s they arrived at a dirt road and counted down the feet until they arrived at a wall of packing containers.
Here, devices are searched for, refurbished and sent to Pakistan. Regardless of health and safety, mercury is being released into the air and masks are not used. Operation Green Fence has been set up by the Chinese authorities, and this prevents electronics crossing the border.
