The informal recycling market in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City showcases how e-waste is managed, with workers salvaging what they can to mitigate environmental harm.
E-waste is filling up landfills at an alarming rate, with Asian countries generating almost half of the 62 million metric tons produced globally in 2022.
Despite rising e-waste, proper recycling systems are scarce, leaving informal workers to collect waste, exposing them to health hazards.
Collaboration between informal and formal sectors is seen as a potential solution to improve efficiency and safety in e-waste management.
Key quote:
“We are currently generating e-waste at an unprecedented rate.”
— Garam Bel, e-waste officer at the U.N.’s International Telecommunication Union
In the wake of the fires, a new threat has emerged – massive amounts of ash and debris being washed into rivers and waterways, killing fish and polluting water supplies.
A backlash is growing against the Tennessee Valley Authority over the nation's worst coal ash spill a decade ago, as cleanup workers say they have contracted cancers and lung diseases.
A Public Herald investigation has uncovered that DEP is allowing 14 Sewage Waste Treatment Plants to discharge radioactive fracking waste as landfill leachate into 13 Pennsylvania Waterways.
