Where your computer goes to die: Shocking pictures of the toxic 'electronic graveyards' in Africa where the West dumps its old PCs, laptops, microwaves, fridges and phones
- New report says 41 million metric tonnes of electronic waste worth a staggering £34billion was discarded in 2014
- Countries illegally export 'millions of tonnes' of e-waste annually to African nations like Ghana, campaigners say
- Shocking photographs from its capital Accra show thousands of discarded appliances in huge, filthy landfill sites
- Some contain toxic materials like lead and mercury which damage environment and people sifting through them
Harrowing
images reveal one of west-Africa's vast electronic graveyards where
'millions of tonnes' of discarded appliances from all over the world -
including the UK - are being dumped every year.
Thousands
of broken televisions, computers, microwaves and refrigerators are
being illegally exported to African countries and dumped gigantic
landfills like Agbogbloshie in Ghana because it costs less than
recycling them in their countries of origin, campaigners claim.
41
million tonnes of 'e-waste' worth over £34billion were discarded
globally in 2014, according to a shocking report by United Nations
University who claim only 6 million tonnes of that was recycled
properly.
Polluted: 'Millions of tonnes' of the
world's e-waste ends up in Africa where it is dumped in landfills like
Agbogbloshie (pictured) in Ghana's capital Accra
Damaging: The mountains of 'e-waste'
that builds up in landfill sites such as Agbogbloshie (pictured)
pollutes the local water and harms the health of the scavengers whose
livelihoods depend on these broken goods
Broken: Defunct televisions, computers
and keyboards (pictured) are transported to west-African countries like
Ghana because 'it is cheaper than recycling it properly in European
Union nations'
Relic: The whole of the African
continent produced only 1.9 metric tonnes of waste and yet 'millions of
tonnes' of broken products (pictured) end up there
Dangerous: Young men sift through the
mountains of scraps in landfills like Agbogbloshie (pictured), hoping to
find something worth selling in local markets
Defunct: Shipping broken or unusable
equipment (pictured) to Africa is illegal under the Basel convention,
according to the Head of United Nations University (UNU)
Pollution:
Brokers manage to ship containers of illegal e-waste (pictured) to the
continent by fraudulently categorising it as 'reusable'
Toxic: Old fridges (pictured) that now
reside in filthy landfill sites such as Agbogbloshie contain chemicals
called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which damage the ozone layer
The UK
contributed 1.5 million tonnes of waste to the staggering 11.6 Europe
generated last year - putting it behind only Germany as the continent's
greatest contributor.
That
dwarfs the 1.9 million tonnes produced by the whole of Africa and yet
the continent's western nations have become a dumping ground for the
world's defunct products.
Some
of the appliances even leak toxic elements such as lead and mercury
which harms the environment and the young men who trawl through the
broken goods hoping to find something worth selling.
The shocking images taken by e-waste campaigners QAMP reveal how countless household appliances have contaminated what was once the 'pastoral landscape' of Agbogbloshie in Accra.
'Developed
countries export millions of tonnes of electronic waste annually into
developing countries such as Ghana,' the group based in the country
claims on its website.
Photographs
show young boys trawling through the western world's scraps,
dismantling old stereos and burning components to recover scrap metal -
which they will sell for small amounts of money.
Transporting
broken or expired electronics to Africa is illegal but brokers exploit a
loophole by fraudulently labelling the items as reusable, according to
the Head of United Nations University who believes Africa is becoming 'a
graveyard for e-waste'.
When
massive containers arrive in Ghana and Nigeria, they are trucked to
remote locations where the locals can buy the products directly without
testing them to later sell in markets, Dr Ruediger Kuehr told MailOnline
He
believes legal shipments can help close the digital divide between
Africa and the west but said: 'If it turns out that this equipment
arriving in Africa is no longer of use, there is no longer a market
existing or that they are getting real waste… then we are having a real
issue.'
Aid: UNU believes legal shipments of
electronic appliances can help people in Africa who burn components
(pictured) to extract scrap metal which they can sell
Broken: But the head of the
organisation Dr Ruediger Kuehr told MailOnline that most of the material
being shipped to Africa 'is nothing more than junk'
Useless: 1.8 million tonnes of 'large
equipment' including washing machines (pictured in Agbogbloshie),
clothes dryers, dishwashers and electric stoves was discarded world wide
in 2014
Profit: Locals in Ghana's capital
Accra intercept trucks carrying the discarded products and buy the
products without testing them - to later sell them in the city's market
(pictured)
Target: West African nations like
Ghana are inundated with the world's waste because the continent's
eastern and southern countries are implementing measures to prevent the
dumping of e-waste (pictured)
Victim: Ghana produced only 38,000
metric tonnes of e-waste in 2014 compared to the UK's 1.5 million but
its landfills have become a graveyard for the world's useless
microchips, light bulbs and motherboards (pictured)
Inexpensive: Even old wiring is dumped
in Agbogbloshie (pictured) because it is cheaper to ship them to Africa
than it is to recycle it in European Union nations
This
sometimes-illegal and environmentally damaging practice plaguing Ghana
is driven by cheap dumping prices in comparison to the cost of recycling
in the countries where it comes from.
The
electronic waste leaks lead, mercury, arsenic, zinc and
flame-retardants. They've been found in toxic concentrations in the air,
water, and even on the fruits and vegetables at the wholesale market
Yepoka Yeebo, Photographer
Dr
Ruediger Kuehr said: 'These shipments are taking place and increasingly
so. The reasoning behind it is quite simple - economic and financial.
'Recycling
in the European Union and the UK costs money. So if a broker
successfully collects enough material and sends it to Africa, it could
be in their interest because in people in Africa are still paying for
this.'
The
'recycling' of e-waste in Agbogbloshie is a dangerous business which
often involves burning it in unmonitored landfill sites, according to
UNU.
The
waste discarded in 2014 contained around 300 tonnes of gold, 16 million
tonnes of iron and nearly two million tonnes of copper as well as
significant amounts of silver, aluminium and palladium.
And
alarmingly, it also contained 'substantial amounts' of life-threatening
toxic material like mercury and cadmium which can cause organ failure
and severe mental impairment if they pollute the local water supply.
In the deadly fields of Agbogbloshie, photographer Yepoka Yeebo
has seen young men braving toxic fumes and explosive appliances in what
she deems 'the chaotic heart of one of west Africa's biggest
economies'.
She
has witnessed boys as young as 14 trawling barefoot through acres of
what could be deadly waste material which may cause them irreparable
harm.
Yepoka
adds: 'The electronic waste leaks lead, mercury, arsenic, zinc and
flame-retardants. They've been found in toxic concentrations in the air,
water, and even on the fruits and vegetables at the wholesale market.'
Dumped: E-waste
graveyards in Africa (pictured) are damaging the health of the
scavengers and the local environment, according to a United Nations
University report
Poverty: UNU claims the recycling of
e-waste can help developing economies by giving shipping over cheap
appliances but most of the equipment reaches Africa broken and useless
(pictured)
Scavengers: The young men who look
through the wreckage in Agbogbloshie, Accra (pictured) are exposed to
toxic materials which seep from some discarded products
Danger: Young men brave toxic fumes
and explosive appliances in Agbogbloshie (pictured), in what one local
journalist calls 'the chaotic heart of one of west Africa's biggest
economies'
Hazardous: Yepoka Yeebo - a
photographer who has visited the fields of Agbogbloshie - says the
electronic waste (pictured) 'leaks lead, mercury, arsenic, zinc and
flame-retardants'
Many
old fridges that now reside in filthy landfill sites such as
Agbogbloshie contain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which
damage the ozone layer.
The
UK was identified as one of the world's largest generators of e-waste
and ranked fifth in the world in terms of material discarded per person,
with each Briton producing 23.5kg every year
UNU's
research discovered the majority of e-waste, nearly 60 per cent,
consisted of large and small domestic appliances rather than discarded
electronics like mobile phones and computers.
It
included a gigantic 12.8 megatons of small items such as microwaves and
toasters and 18.8 megatons of 'white goods' such as fridges, washing
machines, dryers and other larger appliances.
The
UK was identified as one of the world's largest generators of e-waste
and ranked fifth in the world in terms of material discarded per person,
with each Briton producing 23.5kg every year.
It
also produced the sixth most e-waste overall and its 1.5 megatons of
waste was only 100,000 tonnes less than India which has 20 times the
population.
The
UNU report said that only one-third of e-waste in the UK is recycled
through recognised schemes, a figure that must reach 85 per cent by 2019
under European Union rules.
According
to the Independent, UNU researcher Federico Magalini said: 'In the UK
we are seeing that the 'lifespan' of an electric or electronic product
may be particularly short.
'We
should not simply try to stop consumption to minimise the amount of
waste being generated, but should instead make sure that it is properly
collected and recycled. There is an opportunity to create jobs and
extract those resources currently being discarded.'
Health: The toxins leaking from
discarded appliances in Accra's Agbogbloshie landfill could be causing
irreparable harm to the young men (pictured) who scavenge through the
site
Decay: Despite
millions of tonnes of e-waste and appliances making its way to Africa,
much of it cannot be sold and is left to rot in the huge landfills
Desperate: Local Ghanaian's sift
through mounds of old chargers in the hope that some of the still work
and can be sold at market
The
weight of last year's e-waste is comparable to over 1.1 million
18-wheel trucks - enough to form a line from New York to Tokyo and back.
And yet less than one-sixth of last year's e-waste is thought to have
been diverted to proper recycling and reuse.
While
the US and China produce almost a third of the world's combined
e-waste, the top producers per-capita are the wealthy nations of
northern and western Europe - the top five being Norway, Switzerland,
Iceland, Denmark, and the UK.
The
escalating global e-waste problem is driven by the rising sales and
shortening life cycles of electrical and electronic equipment, according
UN Under-Secretary-General and Rector of UNU.
David
Malone said: 'Worldwide, e-waste constitutes a valuable 'urban mine' - a
large potential reservoir of recyclable materials. At the same time,
the hazardous content of e-waste constitutes a toxic mine' that must be
managed with extreme care.'
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