Rate this book

Junkyard Planet: Travels In The Billion-Dollar Trash Trade (2013)

by Adam Minter(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1608197913 (ISBN13: 9781608197910)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Bloomsbury Press

review 1: This was somewhere between a 3 and 4 for me. Generally, I liked it, but it was hard to "get into." I picked this up because I have a mild fascination with trash (where does it go? what happens to all of it?), and though the book contains a lot of interesting info, it doesn't give the reader a big picture look at our garbage problem, instead focusing on a narrow segment of the recycling business: scrap from junkyards and how it moves around the globe. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a very long article in an obscure trade magazine--an interesting article, but still....I guess it was more than I ever wanted to know about junkyards. But I give Minter credit for tackling this huge, important but largely invisible industry. Almost as much as scrap, this book is an in-depth ... morelook at China's booming economy, and Minter's status as a resident of China and as a reporter of the scrap business gives him a unique insider perspective.
review 2: Adam Minter presents a fascinating look into the junk business, primarily scrap metal, and how all the waste in the US has made millions for people in China. I loved the personal story he tells throughout the book. His family was in the scrap metal business in Minnesota for several generations, and while he could have followed in his father's and grandmother's footsteps, Minter chose to write about the subject. His scrap metal assignments in China led to a decade-long sojourn in Shanghai. My other favorite part of the book was when he followed two Chinese men who are instrumental in the scrap metal business in southern China. One is based in Vancouver, but travels across the US in search of scrap metal. His business associate back in China receives e-mails in the middle of the night with photos of the scrap from the US. It was amazing to learn how many Chinese entrepreneurs do the same thing, and how much money it brings in! I like Minter's philosophy. Recycling is not the answer; buying few pieces of crap is. less

Download links for: Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade

Advertising