Beijing has one of the worst pollution statistics in the world. So much that the government has been busy against crackdowns against vehicles involved in increasing amounts of emissions. Since, it is China, we don’t expect them to let people go off with a warning or so. They just take these pollution violators and dump them straight into these massive junkyards. Over the years, the strict inspections have left many of these junk yards full of cars, vans, buses and all sorts of bikes. The astronomical sizes of these pits will leave you dumbfounded for a while and ask questions about the sustainability of the industrial manufacturing culture.
Ironically, Hangzhou, China’s most beautiful city known for its eye-catching landscape and cultural prestige is also home to one of the biggest junkyards of the nation. The city of four million inhabitants suffers from worsening airborne pollution for half the days of the year. In 2013 alone, the city experienced 239 days of polluted smog which is more than 90 days above the local average. Around forty percent of the pollution comes from the exhaust pipes of vehicles continuously driving around in the city. Many people are able to afford a car, which is evident from the four times increase in incomes in last fifteen years. But, many of these vehicles are not environment-friendly and emit a lot of fumes and emissions. Plus the sheer number of these cars is staggering. There is a car between every two people in this small city! This increasing number of cars has contributed very well to these junkyards and they never seem to run out of space.
Have a look at all the engineering laid down to waste over here. Million of tonnes of it!
The scrapyard sees hundreds of motorcycles. Some of them seem quite new.
High-emission vans are piled up against each other at this yard. They are so much here that it seems unreal. Appears to be made from lego kits!
A lone Chinese worker disassembles the motorbikes.
This scrapyard was once a parking lot. Now it’s a piling lot!
Look at all the toys I used to own!
So, this is some serious metal lying around in China. Can any other country benefit from these mountains of steel, electronics and plastic? Tell us what you would do in the comments!
What if segregating all metals, plastic, rubber (tires) and glass from trucks and bikes. Recycling them to form a new product like E-Bikes. Since E-Bikes is more convinient and cheaper than a Kick Start Motorcyle.
Here in India you do not see such things. All the metal is recycled. There is always shortage of metal. So vehicles are stolen and sold to factories. China is wasting resources. Indians can teach few things like stealing.
those bike engines still seem to be in very good shape. many times these scooters are wore and broken because of electrical issues or accidents that damage the body but the mechanical components still look to be in good shape so why doesn’t the scooter and bike companies reuse these parts to create a recycled bike that could be more affordable to the customers economical and also helps reduce the amount of waste added to this land .