Similarly to Ghana, China is another region that has been disproportionately affected by electronic waste.  In this section, I will outline the issue surrounding Guiyu, a province in China is said to be the world’s largest e-waste sites.

Guiyu has been used for e-waste processing for a number of years, and is has been reported on since 2001.  Its use as an e-waste recycling site has mainly financial motivations, with more than 5000 businesses set up in the area (Levina, 2015).  A recent report found that workers earned an average of $1.50 (USD) per day, with 16 hours of work (Misachi, 2017). This may not seem like much, but still acts as an incentive for poorer people to move to Guiyu from other regions of China.

The recycling of e-waste has had a number of health implications for people living in or near Guiyu.  One particularly shocking statistic is that 81.8% of children in Guiyu have elevated blood lead levels (Huo, 2007).  This can have serious consequences, such as irreversible brain damage and learning difficulties.  Another study by Leung, Duzgoren-Aydin, Cheung and Wong (2008) tested dust samples in various places in Guiyu.  They found higher than normal levels of lead, copper, nickel and zinc, and in some cases, these toxins were able to come into contact with food.  This meant that levels of lead were high for the general public as well as e-waste recyclers.

In recent years, there have been efforts made to improve the situation for locals.  In 2015, regulations were introduced to only allow e-waste recycling in one place: the Guiyu Circular Economy Industry Park.  This legislation aims to contain the effects of e-waste recycling to prevent it from harming the population.  Since this change, many workshops have joined to form larger companies, which have moved to the new industry park.  However, this change has not been without problems.

Because of the more contained space, there have been complaints that the park is not large enough to contain the waste, and three fires were reported in 2017 (Chow, 2018).  Additionally, recyclers now incur a number of costs and fees for the environmental services used in Guiyu.  Although the environment is being better protected, the costs are being pushed onto the already-struggling recyclers rather than the government having to take responsibility.

So what does the case of Guiyu tell us?  Guiyu demonstrates the damage caused by informal e-waste recycling, and it gives an insight into how this problem can be dealt with.  However, I would argue that Guiyu’s new regulations help to portray that serious government intervention may be required to enforce changes in a disadvantaged region.  The people of Guiyu continue to work on e-waste recycling sites despite the detrimental effects to their health.  I would suggest that these people have very little choice but to work in these conditions if they want to survive.  Therefore, I believe that the authorities should take a greater responsibility in ensuring safe working conditions, rather than shifting this responsibility onto the public.