The Rich World's Electronic Waste, Dumped in Ghana - Bloomberg - 0 views
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the Agbogbloshie dump, a wasteland dotted with burning mounds of trash in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
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Up to 10,000 workers wade through tons of discarded goods as part of an enormous, informal recycling process, in what has become one of the world’s largest destinations for used electronic goods.#lazy-img-360452765:before{padding-top:66.70212765957447%;}
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smashing up old computers and televisions in search of valuable parts and burning insulated cables to recover copper.
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The Agbogbloshie dump is a result of the world’s increasing demand for electronic equipment as consumers continually upgrade their devices and throw out the older ones.
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significant proportion of this electronic waste is sent, often illegally, from the West to developing countries across Africa and Asia.
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Around 50 million tons of electronic waste, or e-waste, is being thrown away each year, according to a report published this year by the United Nations.
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The rest “ends up in landfill, or is disposed of by informal workers in poor conditions,” the UN found.
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“E-waste is a growing global challenge that poses a serious threat to the environment and human health worldwide,”
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They are often labeled as secondhand consumer products, health experts said, so they are not strictly considered waste.
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“There are skin diseases and ailments [at Agbogbloshie], but the worst problem here is respiratory illnesses, because the amount of pollution here is so high,”
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“The workers can’t do anything about it because they have to earn a living, so it’s a trade-off. They earn money but their health suffers.”
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These health risks are entering the food chain. The Agbogbloshie area is home to one of the largest food markets in Accra, and haggard livestock roam freely and graze on the dumpsite.
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One egg hatched by a free-range chicken in Agbogbloshie exceeded European Food Safety Authority limits on chlorinated dioxins, which can cause cancer and damage the immune system, 220 times over.
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about 80,000 men, women, and children subsist from the Agbogbloshie dump, living either on-site or in the adjacent slum.
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an international treaty that since 1989 has forbidden developed nations from carrying out unauthorized dumping of e-waste in less developed countries.
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It is very important the issue of waste export to developing countries such as Africa and other countries in transition should be looked at critically.”
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The German development agency GIZ is in the midst of delivering a €5 million ($5.5 million) project to build a sustainable, efficient recycling system at Agbogbloshie, as well as a health clinic and football pitch for workers.
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But as the world’s appetite for electronics keeps growing, preventing the illegal dumping of electronic waste and the devastating impact it has on places like Agbogbloshie will prove an even greater challenge.