With all the talk about the disposability of modern 'lo/mid-fi' and where all this stuff ends up. I started to look on the internet and in particular all of the electronics stuff being shipped back to China for reclamation/recycling.

There are some astounding pictures showing mountains of pc/industrial electronics, however I came across this one picture and noticed at the extreme left side ... SILVER!

Got me thinking, :scratch2: I wonder how much 60's/70's high end gear actually ends up there? We know that there are alot of people with the mindset that if it's old it's no good - toss it out.

Think about all the kerbside equipment which isn't spotted by AK'ers and others, which eventually does end up at the local garbage site, I guess from there these electronics eventually do end up in a container heading for China.

Finally, can you picture some Chinese labourer dismantling a TOTL Pioneer or Sansui (with an axe!) not realising the 'gold' they are recycling!!!!

!SCARY!

Sorry, here's the picture.

Doesn't surprise me. 100 years ago we (Supposedly) had what was called the "Guilded Age". Today we have the "Gimmicky Crap Age".

Anyhow, can you send us a link to these shocking photos?

Sorry, here's the picture.

Where?

Oh, yes, now I see. Thanks.

Looks to me like this picture was taken somewhere in the U.S. or Canada.

Anyhow it is sad, isn't it?

Try to rescue as much as you can before these criminals get their hands on it. I'm doing my part.

Dave

Maybe there is hope for that stuff since it is segregated from everything else. A few years ago, I was at an electronics recycling place where you could actually purchase the items there. They would set stuff like that aside, they obviously knew it was still valuable intact. Now they probably sell it on Ebay, but at least I know SOME of it gets "rescued".:thmbsp:

It just gives me the cold sweats, I guess to the delight of my wife I'm just going to have to hoard more gear!!!!

Maybe there is hope for that stuff since it is segregated from everything else. A few years ago, I was at an electronics recycling place where you could actually purchase the items there. They would set stuff like that aside, they obviously knew it was still valuable intact. Now they probably sell it on Ebay, but at least I know SOME of it gets "rescued".:thmbsp:

Good point, I didn't actually think of that, but now you mention it. D'oh!

I suppose there's some hope then :banana:

Yeah it sucks. Valuable things get tossed everyday. But I am glad they are not going into a landfill.

I don't think its a bad thing at all. I am sure some equipment of value gets recycled but better that then buried at a landfill.

Evan

Oh, it's much worse than the pic above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyrN8QqR0cE

Stick with this a couple minutes and you'll see some horrifying sights. People hovering over barrels with brown nitric acid fumes coming out, pots of smoking solder, mountains of waste, polluted waterways, burning plastic, and little kids doing the work. :no:

Yeah, that's sickening.......

I'm guessin' all the stuff on the left is what workers have dibs on....

I live in China now and the first thing that comes to my mind is, if it works they'll try to sell it before it gets chopped up. I know that isn't great news for you guys on the other side of the world but there are markets here that sell old second hand stuff. Sometimes the stuff works 100%, like the two vintage Pioneer amps I bought, and sometimes the stuff works, but at more like 70% like my Marantz and Sony amps. The stuff ain't cheap either, no good deals over here, at least a good deal is rare. They, like the rest of the world, look at ebay and determine the 'value' then add more to it. But I have to say I have not found any 'good' stuff that appears to be from the US. Most of the good name items come from Hong Kong or Japan. Japan is a huge 'garbage' provider for China. Japans environment regulations are strick and they sell stuff to China because China doesn't give a crap about the environment, they just care about the cash. Literally tonnes of second hand LP's come to China from Japan to be 'recycled' but 90% never get that far. They end up in small shops that sell them. I have found some great records over here that were thrown out in Japan as trash! Beatles red vinyl pressings!!!

There are USA corporations that have trash relocation contracts with Chinese entities. Our electronics have polluted whole river valleys and sections of China. It is an absolute disgrace. Just one Story (http://www.ethicalshopping.com/electronics/cell-phones-service/most-u-s-electronic-waste-pollution-and-worker-danger-shipped-overse).

This week I dropped off some old clothes at the SA and inquired that I had not seen any electronics lately. The guy said that almost all the electronics were loaded on a semi-trailer and sold for $3500 to a dealer in Los Angelas. Anyone know where it goes?

None of this surprises me.

I'll give you one guess.

That first photo resemble the pile of CRT computer monitors we accumulated here at my work place, which is a government entity. We pretty much replace perfectly good computer monitors every couple of years....gotta spend those tax dollars somehow :no:

Regarding the dumping of old electronics in China (and other countries as well), what you have is an uninformed (and uneducated) society regarding the dangers of some of the material that are being handled. Local government officials are often bribed to allow such business activities, if not outright involved in profiteering off of such business activities altogether. Environmental regulations, if any, are always ignored in exchange for increased business activities (cash). If you are the single-party dictatorship, you certainly don't want unemployed citizens sitting on their hands....that can lead to revolts.

China is still in the 19th century, environmentally speaking, at least in many places. Other parts are like the US in the 1960s. Once we get the US cleaned up of its legacy of contamination, Asia and Eastern Europe and Africa will be the next frontiers in environmental cleanup. Sad to say, there will be work for my kind for a long time to come.