A team of workers in China's Zhejiang province collapsed after handling two metric tons of plastic scrap on September 13. At least 21 have since been hospitalized and three of them have died.
According to the initial investigative conclusions just released by the local authorities, the victims were in contact with highly toxic chemical dinitrophenol, which was found on the two tons of plastic scrap. It is believed that a chemical factory in Dongyang city illegally sold used plastic packaging with dinitrophenol residue to a dealer, who then sold the scrap to a recycling shop.Workers at the recycling shop were unaware of the hazard of the material and had no protection during the unloading.Four people at the chemical factory have been detained.This particular tragedy is only the tip of the iceberg. China's plastics recycling industry is poorly regulated, with scandals such as biohazard plastic waste being melted and reprocessed into consumer goods. Domestic channels, rather than imports, are oftentimes the source of hazardous scrap materials.SEARCH
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Toxic plastic scrap kills three recycle workers
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COMMENTS (1)
jemima:
Hi Nina,
How are you?
I came across your blog called "Toxic Plastic Scrap Kills Three Recycle Workers" while searching for a topic to write for my technical report assignment. This assignment is important because it is heavily weighted. I am in my last year of college in Canada.
Can you help me with regards to the dangers of plastic recycling?
I have tried very hard to find out how plastic is recycled. So far, I know that plastics to be "recycled" are sent to China in barges from North America.
Once the plastics to be recycled reaches China, it is then "recycled". This causes deadly pollution in the waters and air of China.
Is the above information true? Can you verify it? Is there something that will show that it is not fiction but is REAL and killing and harming people and the environment, therefore the world. Are there pictures to prove the pollution of water through the process of recycling plastics? Or pictures showing the process of how the recycling of plastics is done?
So far, my searching on the internet has not been very fruitful. I think the world is trying to hide and bury this terrible fact: that plastics indeed cannot be recycled.
Can you help me, please? This is not just for marks to pass my course. It is also to raise awareness.
Yours sincerely,
Jemima