Fun Fact: Did you know that if you laid out all of the world's electronic waste (e-waste), it would cover the island of Manhattan!

China imports: More than 3 million tonnes of waste plastic and 15 million tonnes of paper and cardboard each year.

UK's contribution: One-third of the UK's waste plastic and paper, which equates to 200,000 tonnes of plastic rubbish and 500,000 tonnes of paper, is exported to China each year.

Why China? China's lower wages and larger workforce allow it to sort waste more cheaply, even accounting for transportation costs.

Real-world example: Think of it like this – you're hosting a party and have to clean up afterward. Instead of doing it yourself, you pay a friend a few bucks to do it. It's the same thing with China, but on a much larger scale.

Global issue: Electronic waste or e-waste includes unwanted or discarded electronic devices like mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, etc.

Toxic materials: E-waste contains harmful substances like lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and flame retardants. Once discarded, these materials can contaminate the environment and can cause health problems for people working at waste sites.

E-waste growth: The global volume of e-waste was expected to grow by 33% between 2013 and 2017. On average, every person on the planet generated 7 kg of e-waste in 2012.

Major contributors: In 2012, China generated 11.1 million tonnes and the US, 10 million tonnes of e-waste. However, on a per person basis, each American produced 29.5 kg compared to less than 5 kg in China.

Real-world example: Imagine if every person in your school threw away their phone every year. That's a lot of waste, right? Now think about that on a global scale – that's what we're dealing with when it comes to e-waste.

Gold in your pocket: Mobile phones contain precious metals like copper, gold, zinc, beryllium, and tantalum, and less than 10% of mobile phones are dismantled and reused.

Complex recycling: The increasing complexity and small size of components make it more difficult to recycle phones.

Resource shortage: The lack of recycling is leading to shortages of rare-earth minerals, needed to produce future electronic equipment.

Real-world example: Picture this – your mobile phone is like a mini goldmine, holding precious metals within its circuits. But if we keep throwing our 'goldmines' away, one day, we might not have any 'gold' left to dig!