Improvement stalled

China has been gauging public opinion to find proper ways of processing e-waste since 2003. Now, almost 10 years later, only government departments and State-funded institutions dispose of their e-waste in a green way, and most of the public is aware of no other channel to dispose of the devices than individual vendors.

The Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences drew up a draft proposal in 2006, in an attempt to set up the necessary equipment in Beijing to collect, transport, store, dismantle, recycle and process e-waste by 2015, having a processing capacity of three million devices annually. Yuan said legislation is needed to force the public to hand in e-waste to the qualified processing organizations.

Despite all the difficulties, some efforts are being made to deal with the problems.

Mao Yunshi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, and the head of the Business Management Research Department at Sun Yat-sen University, called on the government to pay more attention to phone disposal during the two sessions this year.

He suggested phone manufacturers foot the bill for programs through special levies, in accordance with the principle of "whoever manufactures pays for the consequences".

"We now lag far behind in legislation on the recycling of old cell phones and accessories," said Mao Yunshi. "There are some regulations covering bigger appliances, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, but small devices are not included."

The State Council passed a recycling management regulation on scrapped electronic equipment that requires all licensed e-waste processing companies to be equipped with anti-pollution facilities and safety devices.

The regulation took effect on Jan 1, 2011, and applies to all companies in the country.

The State Council also started gauging public opinion on a system in which people disposing of e-waste will have to register under their real names, so as to "regulate the management of used electronic appliances and better use the resources and protect the environment".

If the regulation takes effect, it might better regulate the market and industry of used electronic products, but it could hardly put an end to the widespread workshops.

According to Mao Yunshi, financial incentives will help recyclers compete with unauthorized scrap collectors and boost the program to provide home pickup services or allocate recycling stations for smaller electronic devices at convenience stores throughout the capital, to encourage public participation.

Wang, the Beijing resident, said: "I know that the electronic appliances should not end up in landfills, because they'll cause serious pollution, but I never thought what I threw away is worth this much.

"It's exciting to think of you might even get a car with the money made in trading all the e-waste in the neighborhood, and I suspect that when we can recycle e-waste as easily as other household trash, people will be very willing to do that."

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