Solar panels

Solar panels last 20 or 25 years and they got popular around 2000 and so many are now sent to recycling plants and therein lies a problem. Many of the so called recycling companies merely ship these old panels to countries in Africa where they are buried. All of the dangerous rare earth metals are then leached out into the ground. This completes the cycle. The mining of these elements takes place mostly in China where the process poisons the ground water to end up in Africa where it poisons the water there. It is reminiscent of the popular book from the 60's called, "The Ugly American".