NOT IN THEIR BACKYARD - E-WASTE IN GHANA

Agbogbloshie Market in Accra is a massive dumpsite where tons of electronic waste (e-waste), most of which is exported and shipped from western nations, is delivered each day from Tema Port.

Billowing black smoke can be seen blanketing the grounds from the market’s chaotic entrance, where a myriad of people go about their day-to-day business surrounded by piles of obsolete computers, broken televisions, rusted refrigerators, air-conditioners and old car batteries .

Children as young as eight years old right through to the elderly lug, rifle through, dismantle and burn this toxic material with bare hands, feet and skin exposed and mouths unmasked to resell the debris to make a meager living.

Breaking, smashing, tearing apart and bagging the waste or setting ablaze flame-retardant wires to extract strands of copper is the daily, 12 to 15 hour grind these workers tolerate. Deadly chemicals and carcinogenic agents including bromine, lead and mercury released into the atmosphere are absorbed with every breathe leaving them vulnerable to health defects such as chronic headaches, respiratory ailments, skin and eye infections, burns and other, sometimes fatal, diseases. Eating, sleeping, drinking, defecating and other day-to-day duties all occur on the same grounds. Wages depend solely upon the weight of the debris and copper collected.

“All these toxic metals bio-accumulate. They persist in environment and human body and can even be present in breast milk fed to babies,” explains Environmentalist Mr. Mike Anane, who is spearheading a campaign, "Stop the Exportation and Dumping of Toxic Waste" alongside the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “(Workers) are opening up their bodies to carcinogens, cancers and a lot of ailments as they grow older. They make something but it is nothing to die for.”

Most labourers come from Northern Ghana, while a minority migrate from neighbouring countries including Cote D’Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso, in hopes of an improved way of life. Many of the children, unable to afford an education, leave their villages on their own in an attempt to garner money for school fees or to help support their families. Left to fend for themselves on the city streets, hope to return home prevails. However, years may pass before they do; if they ever find a way.

“They say ‘we need money to go to school, for clothing, to buy food’,” says Anane. “’We know the work is damaging to our health, and we can’t run as fast but we have no choice.’”

If the health and safety hazards or human rights violations upon these labourers and surrounding residents in the area are not enough to raise eyebrows, then consider the toxic waste that enters directly into the Adore River and Korle Lagoon, which flow around the dumping grounds, through the city and into the ocean. Furthermore, envision this during a tropical downpour. Imagine cattle and sheep grazing upon the site and ending up on citizens’ dinner plates.

The market could be viewed under the guise of a recycling plant, as broken plastic is bagged, delivered back to Tema Port and shipped to manufacturing plants in China, while bundles of copper are sold to various local electronic agents for re-use. Some may also argue that the site provides a source of employment and a means to survive for thousands.

“There is some positive side to it ... People are making a living and using cannibalized parts to do business,” says Mr. William Abaidoo of Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “However because of the inability to manage hazardous parts ... in 10 to 15 years what is the essence? The long term (health) effects are incalculable.”

According to the UNEP an estimated 20 to 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated across the globe each year and 70 per cent of it is shipped in from countries all over Europe and North America landing in third-world nations. An international treaty, the Basel Convention was created in 1989 and has been signed by 170 countries, including Ghana. This treaty is meant to prohibit the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries. But, it has yet to be enforced.

Anane describes the situation in Ghana as a “crisis.” He has been working for four years encouraging the Government to halt the import of e-waste by strengthening environmental laws and regulations. He says the international community must take responsibility for the waste generated and stop the dumping in other country’s backyards. Shipping companies and electronic manufacturers should also be held accountable.

“It’s easier and cheaper to bring the waste here. Out of sight, out of mind,” says Anane. “It is a crisis. It is immoral. It ought to be illegal.”

According to the EPA, the Ghanaian Government needs US$1.5 billion to deal with waste water, sanitation and pollution management, which is the cause of 70 per cent of diseases on the African continent. The agency claims it is aware of the e-waste problem and says action including setting guidelines, standards, as well as taking an inventory of the situation on the ground, will take place “as soon as possible.”

“As an agency we view the e-waste situation as emerging,” says Abaidoo. “If you say it’s a crisis then you are saying it has gone beyond epidemic proportions ... The number of Ghanaians engaging in dismantling computers is negligible, so you can’t describe it as a crisis. A crisis is the cyclone in Burma.”

As for when action will take place. “It takes time,” explains Abaidoo. “We don’t want to conjecture because we may be telling lies and heightening the hopes of people.”

On that note, lets take a closer look at what is actually happening on the ground at Agbogbloshie Market and where you’re discarded keyboard, fax machine or washing machine may have ended up.

Abudullah Haffiz smashes computer debris to get to the copper-filled wiring. The 27-year-old from Tamale, the capital of Ghana’s Northern Region, works a 12 hour day at the market and receives about CDN$2 for every kilogram of copper he collects. He has made a living at the dump site since he was a teenager and often suffers from a cough and headache.

A pile of printers and other metal waste lies along the main path leading into market. This is a common sight throughout the dumping ground.

Much of the e-waste has confidential information attached including names, companies, addresses, even phone numbers of their origin destination. Wonder if David Griffith, member of the Alliance Industry Association (AIA), realizes where his broken washing machines end up. Perhaps someone should give the Washing Machine Man a call to find out.

Two teens hammer off the insulation of a refrigerator. Step two
will involve breaking through the plastic to extract copper wiring.

Ibraham Abdul-Rahaman White uses a broom to burn a piece of metal, while sheep graze and residents play football in the distance. The 19-year-old, who has never been to school, came to Agbogbloshie Market from the north with his brother. He is aware of the negative health impacts but says he is trying to make a living.


Here is a closer look at a group of sheep grazing on the dumpsite. Rotten food, feces, computers parts and other toxic material is what they ingest. These sheep may be slaughtered and their meat then sold at local markets.



Kwaku Nyaba from Bolgatanga in Ghana’s Upper East Region, collects debris off the ash-ridden ground to assist with the burning of wires, while other teen labourers and their family members work in the background. The 16-year-old has been working at the market for one year and on a good day earns about CDN$3 a day.

These pieces of debris are a great source of copper once the metal is burned off. Positioned this way speeds up the burning process.

A bag of wire collected by 16-year-old Kuaku Nyaba is ready for burning to extract copper. The colourful flame-retardant material surrounding the wire is highly toxic. Notice the burn scars on the Nyaba's hand (left).


This three-year-old girl helps out by using a piece of Styrofoam as kindling. Immediately after this photo was snapped she threw it into the fire. Her sister takes care of her while selling water on the grounds.



Once debris is bagged and copper collected it is weighed on this scale and labourers are paid accordingly. The average daily wage is about CDN$3 per day.