Environment and Recycling
Every year, 20+ million pounds of discarded holiday lights make their way to Shijiao, China (near Guangzhou), the world capital for recycling Christmas lights. The region began importing discarded lights around 1990 in part because of its cheap labor and low environmental standards. As late as 2009, many factories would simply burn the lights to melt the plastic and retrieve the copper wire, releasing toxic fumes into the local environment. A safer technique was then developed that involved chopping the lights into a fine sand-like consistency, mixing it with water and vibrating the slurry on a table causing the different elements to separate out, similar to the process of panning for gold. Everything is recycled: copper, brass, plastic and glass.
Read more about this topic: Christmas Lights
Famous quotes containing the words environment and/or recycling:
“In a land which is fully settled, most men must accept their local environment or try to change it by political means; only the exceptionally gifted or adventurous can leave to seek his fortune elsewhere. In America, on the other hand, to move on and make a fresh start somewhere else is still the normal reaction to dissatisfaction and failure.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
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