EARTHblog » EARTHWORKS
Major Companies Shifting Focus to Benefit from E-Waste
By EARTHWORKS
August 10, 2012
The electronics market is experiencing rapid growth and consumers are replacing their electronics very frequently. According to the EPA, in 2009, “2.37 million tons of electronics were ready for end-of-life management.” It is important that all these electronics are properly recycled because they contain precious metals that could potentially be used to produce new electronics.
From an economic perspective, companies always seek to maximize their profits. As demand for precious minerals increases and mineral prices begin to seem unbearable, companies are looking for alternatives.
According to an article in Business Wire, “Major international corporations such as Waste Management (NYSE: WM), Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and more are investing heavily in e-waste recycling as mineral prices soar worldwide.”
Tagged with: recycle my cell phone, recycling, e-waste
Conga No Va: A Ground-Level View of the Mining Conflict in Northern Peru
By EARTHWORKS
July 10, 2012
CAJAMARCA, PERU –– “Um, I think we have to find another place to meet,” I shouted into the phone on the morning of the Fourth of July. I was supposed to meet a local professor in the downtown Plaza de Armas here in Cajamarca, Peru, but at our designated meeting time, police were throwing tear gas into the plaza, and I saw them kicking and beating people who were slow (or too defiant) to move out of the way.
I’m here researching mining conflicts – reading, observing, and interviewing protestors, government officials, NGO staff, community members, and other stakeholders. On Tuesday night, July 3, a State of Emergency was declared here in the city of Cajamarca and two neighboring provinces of Celendín and Bambamarca after clashes between police and anti-mining protestors turned fatal. In Peru, a State of Emergency suspends certain constitutional rights such as freedom of assembly, gives police power to arrest without warrant, and gives the armed forces a frighteningly broad mandate to help the police maintain order. That evening, tear gas and violence swept through downtown Cajamarca, as described by OnEarth Magazine’s George Black. Many activists interpret the crackdown as a piece of a bigger puzzle: the criminalization of social protest in Peru.
Tagged with: mining, newmont, peru, violence, conga, protests
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