"Despite the fact that Guangdong has urged several of its cities, including Huizhou, Dongguan and Meizhou, to set up industrial parks for recycling e-waste, it is a pity that there are very few such bases, and even fewer that are operating well," Wu said.

The State-level recycling base in Qingyuan, he said, salvages just about 40,000 tons of e-waste annually, which is only 20 percent of the total generated in the city. "However, primitive workshops, which thrive on dismantling e-waste, can be found everywhere." Wu said it was a matter of "great urgency" that local governments step up and make good use of their industrial parks for reprocessing, instead of continuing to recycle e-waste using ancient methods, such as burning and melting.

"It is equally important that a scientific system for e-waste reclamation be set up where hazardous materials can be collected and kept under close supervision," he added.

Besides the town of Guiyu in Shantou, Qingyuan city's Shijiao town and Lishui in Foshan situated in the Pearl River Delta region, are also notorious for filling the air with toxic pollutants as a direct result of burning and melting e-waste.

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Editor:Yang Jie