ABSTRACT

Asia is the largest recycling center in the world. End-of-life durable goods such as home appliances and personal computers have been called E-waste. Such goods used in the US, the EU, and Japan have to a large extent been exported into developing countries in Asia. They have also ended up being recycled in the Asian region, especially in China, India, and Pakistan. Although circulation of resources (including the reuse and recycling of material) around the whole world is essential in terms of effective utilization of resources, in these centers of E-waste recycling, serious environmental pollution has been generated by improper recycling methods (Basel Action Network and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 2002).