Journalist Elizabeth Grossman sounds a wake-up call. Her language is couched in the breathless 'this will shock you' style of the tabloid press, and features the cast we expect from this genre: chemical substances with obscure names and uncertain toxicologies, noble environmentalists, evil industries, and flaccid governments. There is no doubt that we have problems. Even a confused account like this is able" to pinpoint some of them. The electronic wizardry that we take for granted, and need constantly to update, is built around small amounts of toxic materials that must be kept out of the environment and avoided by people. In many cases, good equipment, working as well as it ever did, can no longer service modern needs. Much of the equipment is stored for a time (it is too good to throw away, not good enough to use) - but eventually it is discarded. Some waste is quietly land-filled, while some is shredded or broken up so that valuable bits can be recycled. Such processes are seldom undertaken in developed countries, where high wages and environmental and occupational health and safety requirements make it uneconomic.
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