Bear - I agree some of the waste may come from Western countries. But, I think the Western infrastructure for recycling materials probably exeeds that of many Eastern or African cultures, thus reducing the amount of waste available for transport. There are several scrap yards within driving distance for almost every American. I'm not sure how it is in Western Europe, but I suspect that people who want to sell their wires and metals have no trouble finding a place to sell it. Maybe not everyone scraps, but everyone knows someone who knows someone who scraps. Sure e-waste buyers may be further and fewer between, and many of us have to resort to shipping materials to attain the best pricing. But we are shipping domestically to outfits who most likely refine it domestically. Due to the legislative changes in most states in recent years, there are huge nationwide e-waste collection campaigns to gather material in central locations. I don't think that recycling centers, Goodwill, Staples, Best Buy, and places like that are putting the material on boats to Africa. I think they are selling the material to domestic processors, and those processors are further profiting by processing the materials, usually domestically.
As part of the campaign to collect e-waste material for free, these outfits produce these videos to sway public opinion of the waste. They want the public to believe that if you get within 100 feet of any e-waste, you might die of cancer within minutes. Or a laser beam may shoot out of it and evaporate you and your friends on the spot. But of course when it is the latest generation high tech gadget, we should all buy one immediately. When it becomes outdated, it will self destruct in five seconds, and it may take you and your neighbors with it. Put on your HAZMAT suit, and call the National Guard, we have e-waste on the loose.
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