For the first retail buyer, the cost of the computer is OS ($100) plus programs ($300) plus PC ($300) plus LCD display ($150).
He sells it to his son, without wiping the programs off, for $100.
The son finishes up and pays someone to wipe it and recycle it for $5 cost.
The recycler resells the monitor for $15 and the wiped PC for $30.
The overseas buyer changes power (to 220 v) on the monitor to new for $10, adds RAM for $5 and reinstalls all the programs, and resell the PC for $60+ profit.
That's a month's salary in Senegal, Cameroon, and many other countries. So the last guy in the chain actually paid the most for the PC. In the "Big Mac Index" (cost of a Big Mac in different countries), relative to GDP, the PC actually increased in value at the end of the chain.
The cost of the display unit, incidently, went from 17% of the unit's value to 42%. The software depreciated the most.
Which is "waste", the recycler who exported it, or the recycler who shredded it?
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