As the wave of global industrialization sweeps across the world, electronic waste (e-waste) has become one of the fastest-growing waste streams. On the northern bank of the Lianjiang River in Guangdong, China, the town of Guiyu—once known as the "World's E-Waste Capital"—has evolved into a microcosm of the global e-waste circular economy. Since its initial involvement in e-waste dismantling in the early 1990s, Guiyu is now undergoing a profound green transformation, offering valuable lessons for e-waste management in China and globally.
Since 1995, Guiyu has gradually developed into one of the world’s largest e-waste recycling centers, with annual processing volumes once reaching 1.55 million metric tons. However, alongside significant economic benefits, traditional disorganized and informal dismantling practices inflicted severe environmental pollution and health risks on the region. Guiyu’s story reflects the shared challenges and transformational journey in e-waste processing faced by China and the world.
Historically termed a "No-Man's Land" due to administrative neglect, Guiyu’s low-lying terrain near the Lianjiang River made agriculture unsustainable. Before economic reforms, residents survived by collecting and trading scrap materials. Post-reform, small family workshops began informally dismantling e-waste to extract precious metals. Driven by high profits, these operations expanded rapidly, forming a complete industrial chain ( collection, dismantling, processing, and sales ). Guiyu soon became China’s earliest and largest e-waste dismantling base.
Billions of discarded electronics—including mobile phones—flooded into Guiyu annually. Components were meticulously processed:
Plastic casings pelletized into recycled materials;
Salvaged components sold to Huaqiangbei Electronics Market in Shenzhen;
Circuit boards smelted in furnaces to extract gold ( 15 tons/year, once 5% of China’s output), silver, and copper—even influencing global gold prices.
By May 2012, 5,169 workshops processed ~1.08 million metric tons of e-waste annually, handling ~70% of the world’s discarded electronics. E-waste dismantling became Guiyu’s economic pillar.
8% of Guiyu’s children had elevated blood lead levels ( Shantou University Medical College study );
Miscarriage rates far exceeded national averages.
Guiyu’s transformation is an ongoing exploration of circular models:
Informal recycling lingers in small workshops;
Balancing environmental protection with local livelihoods remains critical.
