Yet in Nishi-Koizumi in Gunma prefecture, just north of Tokyo, a town dominated by a Sanyo electronics plant, the picture is different.

ECONOMIST: Japanese immigration

Kevin Pass, head organiser for the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation, says that his union recruited more than half the 1, 000-strong workforce at an electronics plant in Gourock, near Glasgow, within 12 weeks.

ECONOMIST: Trade unions

The fund goes back to recyclers and collectors, who are paid a subsidy based on the amount of electronics they bring to a recycling plant.

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