The nexus becomes more complex particularly at agbogbloshie, the hub of ewaste activities in ghana, where there is nothing like waste. A country report as one of the worlds largest exporters of electrical and electronic equipment eee and importers of waste electrical and electronic equipment ewaste worldwide, china plays a key role in the social, economic, environmental and material life cycle of much of the worlds electrical and electronic equipment. Subject going green, ecyling, electronic recycling, electronic waste, ghana, china, india, nigeria, landfills. Various aspects of ewaste management in ghana have been studied in. Abstract electronic waste ewaste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the country. Ghana to set up ewaste recycling plant ghana business news. Electronic waste is a problem in nigeria today because in most nigerian cities, ewaste is dumped alongside with hospital and other municipal wastes. Introduction electronic waste is the term used to describe old end of life eol electronic appliances that have. Ghana and nigeria have become a major destination for ewaste worldwide. Tonnes of electronic waste are dumped at agbogbloshie. The global ewaste monitor 2017, a joint effort of the itu, the united nations university unu and the international solid waste association iswa, provides the most comprehensive overview of global ewaste statistics and an unprecedented level of detail, including an overview of the magnitude of the ewaste problem in different regions.
And that is because, ewaste from almost every part of the world finds its way into the country, potentially poisoning its land and underground water sources with a cocktail of heavy metal chemicals such as cadmium, lead, barium, mercury. Pdf the recent expanded usage of electronic materials like computers, television sets and refrigerators in ghana has not generated an effective. Government policy and initiatives on ewaste in ghana epa. The question, he argues, is whether secondhand electronics are being exported to ghana as ewaste or to supply a demand for cheap electronics that can help the country bridge the digital divide. With the passage of the electronic waste recycling act of 2003, certain portions of. Ewaste, or electronic waste, is a broad term referring to a range of electronics, including refrigerators, microwaves, and televisions. The government has been asked to strengthen environmental legislation to prohibit the dumping of hazardous materials, such as electronic waste, in the country. The latest place where we have discovered high tech toxic trash causing horrendous pollution is in ghana. Ghana has been cited as the country with the biggest ewaste dumping site in the world. Chatterjee scientiste department of information technology electronics niketan, 6, c. Hazardous and electronic waste control and management act. Because there is very low level of awareness of the hazards and health risk associated with ewaste, little children childlaborers and adult scavengers are seen in.
Electronic waste ewaste is one of the fastestgrowing pollution problems worldwide given the presence if a variety of toxic substances which can contaminate the environment and threaten human health, if disposal protocols are not meticulously managed. This paper looks at the magnitude ewaste trade in ghana by analyzing the growing trade in. Ewaste risks and disposal disasters the solutions journal. In order to manage waste, the environmental protection agency epa and the solid waste act favor an integrated solid waste. Pdf electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices. Poisoning the poor electronic waste in ghana fairphone. Accra, the capital, hosts a thriving secondhand market, a sprawling network of repair shops, and a range of activities which attempt to tap into the full potential of e.
Photographer kevin mcelvaney documents a former wetland in ghana which is home to the worlds largest ewaste dumping site, and where most. About 500 container loads of electronic waste arrive every month, often disguised. Nine years after the first journalistic work on ewaste dumping in ghana was published in the daily graphic june 2007, the parliament of ghana has passed the law to regulate ewaste this week. Hazardous and electronic waste control and management act, 2016 act 917 download file. The west african country of ghana, currently undergoing intense economic growth, is an important centre for receiving, reusing, recovering and disposing of electronic waste. In ghana, per capita generation of plastic waste stands at 0. Proceedings of the 28th enviroinfo 2014 conference, oldenburg, germany september 1012, 2014 electronic waste risk assessment and management in ghana d. Ghanas legal framework to adequately protect children from the worst forms of child labor, including the use of children in commercial sexual exploitation. Computers, televisions, vcrs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic products. Keeping our electronic detritus circulating within our. The burning truth behind an ewaste dump in africa ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in ghana will take more than curbing western waste. The ghana homeless peoples federation and the peoples dialogue pd on human settlements have concurrently supported the dialogue about old fadama. Rtd visits the countrys most infamous dumping ground. Making one of the earths most polluted places safer.
China, ghana, and other developing nations have become international hot spots for digital dumping. Electronic waste risk assessment and management in ghana assess the environmental risk associated with e waste collection, recycling and disposal in ghana make recommendations to improve e waste management in ghana 2. According to a january 2019 report from the world economic forum, ewaste is now the fastestgrowing waste stream in the world, with an estimated waste stream of. Agbogbloshie slum in accra, ghana, one of ewastes most well known destinations. Korle lagoon restoration project and displacement from. Annual global ewaste management gem network meeting, july 15. Near the slum called old fadama, the agbogbloshie site became known as a destination for externally generated automobile and electronic scrap collected from mostly the western world.
Electronic waste and india ministry of electronics and. Ewaste is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their useful life. The rich worlds electronic waste, dumped in ghana citylab. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file.
Government policy and initiatives on ewaste in ghana by. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices 153 however, larry summers, a former economist of the world bank in 1991, reportedly justifies the economic sense of the exportation of e waste to developing countries. Informal processing of electronic waste in agbogbloshie, ghana. Ewaste, the term given to discarded electronic appliances, is often shipped by developed nations to poorer countries such as ghana. Ewaste is growing, and with that surge comes the need for effective electronics recycling programs. Description promoting awareness of removing ewaste from landfills. Our analysis of samples taken from two electronic waste ewaste scrap yards in ghana has revealed severe contamination with hazardous chemicals. Sorting through used electronics is a livelihood for many in the agbogbloshie area, but toxic e waste poses serious health risks.
E waste management issues, challenges and proposed solutions. The contents of the ghana ewaste country assessment are those of the. Waste act of 1990, which set a goal of diverting 25% of new mexicos municipal solid waste from landfills by 1995 and 50% by july 1, 2000. Ewaste is often misinterpreted as related to old computers or it equipment in general, while the synonymous term waste electrical and electronic equipment weee is also used in the international literature. Electrical and electronic waste ewaste has become an emerging environmental and human health problem in the world in the 21st century. Ewaste contains harmful chemicals such as arsenic, barium, beryllium, and many others. Designate points at which electronic waste shall be deposited by importers. Pdf format is widely accepted and good for printing. Agbogbloshies ewaste area covers almost a square kilometre strewn with a wide variety of electronics and smoking fires of burning waste. Agbogbloshie, a former fertile wetland in ghana, is now one of the worlds largest ewaste dumping site. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices. The ewaste processing sites in ghana exemplifies the challenges africa policy makers face with respect to ewaste and its impacts on health and the environment. The toxic effects of electronic waste in accra, ghana. Growth of information and communication technology sector has.
It is estimated that throughout the country only about 10% of solid wastes gen. The hazardous and electronic waste control management bill 2016 was drafted in 2012 and after some. Ghana annually imports around 215,000 tons of secondhand consumer electronics from abroad, primarily from western europe, and generates another 129,000 tons of e waste every year. Annual global e waste management gem network meeting, july 15. The ewaste contributing to a large percentage of the toxicity in ghanaian landfills appears to be the tip of the. Hazardous and electronic waste control and mgt act 917. Informal processing of ewaste in developing countries can lead to adverse human health effects and. Solid waste management challenges in urban areas of ghana. In ghana, the greenpeace team documented ewaste from. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered ewaste.
Electronic waste, abbreviated as ewaste is a term used to describe old, endoflife electronic appliances such as computers, laptops, tvs, radios, refrigerators etc. Electronic waste or ewaste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Government policy and initiatives on e waste in ghana by. There is little hard evidence to measure how much ewaste is dumped either globally or at agbogbloshie. In ghana, the global problem of ewaste has local consequences. Electronic waste management in ghana issues and practices 159 an emerging dynamic in the collection of e waste is the increasing spatial extent that collectors have to explore. A swiss contribution to the implementation of the basel convention switzerland is supporting developing and newly industrialising countries china, india, south africa, peru and colombia in the establishment of environmentally sound. Even recycling your old tvs and computers doesnt mean youre doing the right thing trashing certain items may mean major health and. Thousands of waste pickers trawl for scrap metal at a huge, smoldering electronic waste dump in ghana each day. In this area the poorest classes of accra have been spending years dismantling, recovering, weighing and reselling parts and metals extracted from the. Pdf electronic waste management in ghana issues and. Since the late 1990s, industrial countries have been sending their ewaste here. Agbogbloshie is a nickname of a commercial district on the korle lagoon of the odaw river, near the center of accra, ghanas capital city. This file contains additional information such as exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it.
By taking a complex adaptive systems cas approach to ewaste management in ghana, i investigate the dismantling activity and the environmental and social. E waste management issues challenges and proposed solutions. Electronic waste and garbage scavenging, including sorting scavenged items and transporting items for sale 2932. Ewaste, or electronic waste, is a broad term referring to a range of electronics, including. Environmentalists are worried about an extraordinary rubbish dump in the capital accra.
1108 1476 1542 182 61 1103 291 154 391 769 734 1373 457 1538 638 1324 444 755 103 632 1660 448 986 1252 917 930 312 709 1067 5 1326 1338