It is the end of the road for these broken, outdated and unwanted electronics.Seoul city throws out some 10 tons of e-waste each year, and about a fifth of that arrives at this recycling center.Here at the SR Center, devices are taken apart so that valuable metals like gold, copper or rare earths can be extracted- a 3.8 billion-dollar industry, according to the government.But it is not just about earning profits, says the center’s CEO Ji Un-geun. It is about protecting the environment.“Our planet has a limited amount of natural resources," he said."Our company contributes to a sustainable society, by conserving these materials”Ji says about 90 percent of what is brought here gets recycled.Accumulating mounds of electronic trash is not only a concern in technologically-advanced South Korea.The United Nations reports millions of tons of the world’s e-waste winds up in developing countries.There, toxic materials like lead and mercury pose a severe health risk.That is despite international agreements that ban the export of discarded electronics.Since 2009, the Seoul City government has partnered with the SR Center to collect e-waste from the public and private sectors.Seoul’s Lee Tae-hong says recycling is also a security matter in the digital age.
