Comments on: China Launches Parts Recycling Program

By: Landcrusher

Landcrusher — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:19:51 +0000

Hey, give me a billion serfs willing to work for slave wages and I could do some amazing recycling too. In this country, we won’t allow prisoners to work in the conditions those people do.

By: Edward Niedermeyer

Edward Niedermeyer — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:17:42 +0000

The Chinese are some amazing recyclers. In most cities the bulk of the work is done on tricycles.

The people of communist china will do everything to polish up their nation when the Olympics come around, but who do they think they have fooled?

The Chinese will fool plenty of people, because easy stereotypes get you nowhere when you’re talking about a culture of over a billion people with thousands of years of history. Things are also changing so fast there that what is true one day might not be the next. There are some things that they won’t fool anybody about, like Tibet and air pollution… but then every country has those little embarrassments, don’t they?

By: talldude07

talldude07 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:38:37 +0000

This has been a thriving industry for decades. Most of the replacement alternators, starters, transmission and engines in the US are remanufactured parts.

I have no problem with this, unless the parts happend to be purchased at AutoZone then after a few hundred miles its back to the good ol parts store in your neighbor’s wife’s grand am… how great is that. The people of communist china will do everything to polish up their nation when the Olympics come around, but who do they think they have fooled?

By: jthorner

jthorner — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:24:31 +0000

Discovering remanufactured parts, huh?

This has been a thriving industry for decades. Most of the replacement alternators, starters, transmission and engines in the US are remanufactured parts.

By: Ralph SS

Ralph SS — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:08:44 +0000

“The Chinese are buying scrap metal from everywhere and processing it in China.”

Including, from what I understand, the salvage metal from the WTC’s.

By: Donal Fagan

Donal Fagan — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:46:15 +0000

That lead paint comment reminds me – I went to a lecture sponsored by Armstrong last night. They make ceilings, floor coverings, wall coverings, etc., and have jumped into green design with both feet. So they had this fellow from US Green Building Council, who in a most pleasant way told us how dumb we were about green choices, etc. He asserted that most Americans only had two easy green choices: buy a hybrid and shop at Whole Foods, and that even those are problematic. He told stories of people with 15,000 SF houses and luxury yachts thinking they were eco-warriors because they also owned a Prius.

He couldn’t find a cheap bike for his kids that wasn’t painted by some child in China, with no respirator for protection against the lead, so he felt compelled to buy expensive mountain bikes and hope the seats raise up until his kids go away to college.

By: Stein X Leikanger

Stein X Leikanger — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:02:40 +0000

It’s not just an environmental issue. They’re desperate for resources, with projections showing they’ll soon be running out of essential metals at the present rate of consumption.
The Chinese are buying scrap metal from everywhere and processing it in China.

By: NICKNICK

NICKNICK — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:00:35 +0000

well, they’ll probably have the lead paint problem licked pretty soon.

might as well start building “new” cars with refurb parts and selling them at wal*mart.

By: Landcrusher

Landcrusher — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:39:07 +0000

Once again, the reliance on wealth distribution to maintain power hinders the green movement. The biggest problem with recycling is the labor costs. A consumption based tax system would flip the equation way towards recycling.

I know, I know, I killed this horse weeks ago. I will try to stop.