Due to a growing middle class, China has to deal with an increasing amount of e-waste garbage. In 12 Asian countries, there’s record of 16m tons of electronic trash generated in a single year. In China, the amount of e-waste grew by 6.7m tons in 2015. That was a 107% increase in five years. “To get a sense of scale, if every woman, man, and child in China had an old LCD monitor and dumped it the pile would not equal the 2015 tonnage” (Leahy, 1). In China e-waste recycling is done in the backyard of citizens; there isn’t a formal e-waste recycling program. They use hammers and the burning method to discard of e-waste. The issue with backyard recycling is the toxins released and pollution it causes. Not only does China have to deal with its own e-waste but it also receives e-waste shipment from the US and Europe. Even though it is illegal they still accept the e-waste. The Chinese government has cracked down on the amount of e-waste they accept but it is a huge problem when considering the effect of global warming and how it has impacted them.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/16/chinas-booming-middle-class-drives-asias-toxic-e-waste-mountains
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