Where does the e-waste in Agbogbloshie come from?
Where does the e-waste in Agbogbloshie come from?
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. A significant proportion of this electronic waste is sent, often illegally, from the West to developing countries across Africa and Asia.
How is e-waste recycled in Ghana?
Only 35 per cent of second-hand and waste electronics in Europe end up in official recycling and collection systems. The rest ends up simply thrown into waste bins, recycled under non-compliant conditions or exported to places such as Benin, Ghana and Nigeria.
How much e-waste is in Ghana?
[2] As it stands, Ghana imports 40,000 tonnes of electronic waste each year and runs the largest recycle industry on the African continent.
Who profits from Agbogbloshie?
The Government of Ghana earns from this through the use of recycled materials by the local industry and export taxes. The price of copper at Agbogbloshie as of February 2021 was GH₵16 (around $2.7/ Feb 2021 FX Rate) per pound.
What country is the world’s largest dumpsite for electronic waste?
Ghana’s
Agbogbloshie, an area in Ghana’s capital, Accra, is the largest e-waste dumpsite in the world. It’s nicknamed Sodom for the open fires used to extract metal from old electronics. Some 250,000 tons of electronics, appliances and the like are sent there every year.
Where does e-waste go?
However, most electronic waste still ends up in landfills or gets incinerated, wasting useful resources and releasing toxic chemicals and other pollutants — such as lead, mercury, and cadmium — into the soil, groundwater, and atmosphere to the detriment of the environment.
Which country is the world’s largest dumpsite for electronic waste?
Global e-waste generation by major country 2019 China is the largest producer of electronic waste worldwide, generating more than 10 million metric tons worth in 2019. This was followed by the United States where roughly seven million metric tons was produced.
Where is the largest electronic waste dump in the world?
Agbogbloshie
The slum of Agbogbloshie is the world’s largest e-waste dump. While pollution in land, air, waters and bodies has reached dramatic levels, the work of thousands of informal recyclers in dismantling and repairing electronics remains largely unacknowledged.
What happens at agbogbloshie?
Agbogbloshie is a former wetland, which is now home to one of the world’s largest electronic waste dumps. Here, young men and boys smash and burn electronic devices to salvage the metals inside them”.
What is the largest e-waste site in the world?
What kind of chemicals are in Agbogbloshie e waste?
A recent study by IPEN and the Basel Action Network (BAN) has found high levels of toxins such as dioxins, furans, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), among other highly toxic substances, in free-range chicken eggs in Agbogbloshie. 1 There are several livestock ranches around the Agbogbloshie e-waste dump.
Is the Agbogbloshie scrapyard in Ghana toxic?
Agbogbloshie, Ghana: E-Waste and Toxicity Issues. Electronic waste activities at Agbogbloshie is contaminating Ghana’s food chain – according to an IPEN and the BAN study published in April 2019. But Ghana’s EPA has dismissed the study and thus has not taken any urgent actions to contain the toxic threat/pollution from the Agbogbloshie scrapyard.
Where are the e waste dumps in Ghana?
Rahim, 27, is burning electrical wires to recover copper at the Agbogbloshie e-waste dump in Accra, Ghana/ April 2019. Photo Credit: Muntaka Chasant
How is Agbogbloshie a threat to the environment?
“Agbogbloshie is a toxic threat. The burning of e-waste releases toxic fumes that spread throughout the community, threatening city dwellers. The toxic chemical fumes released get into the food market and get inside the soil throughout the area when it rains.