Title: The Burning Truth Behind an E-Waste Dump in Africa  | Science   | Smithsonian Magazine
Headings: The Burning Truth Behind an E-Waste Dump in Africa
The Burning Truth Behind an E-Waste Dump in Africa
Ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in Ghana will take more than curbing Western waste
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Content: In other words, ending the export of used electronics from the wealthy developed world won’t end the burning in Agbogbloshie. The solution must come from West Africa itself and the people who depend upon e-waste to make a living. At Agbogbloshie, the fastest, cheapest, and favored way to recycle copper from insulated wire is to burn it. ( ©Jon Spaull/ SciDev. Net)
Agbogbloshie is not a pleasant place to work. Most of the site is threaded by muddy lanes that cross in front of dozens of small sheds holding recycling businesses. Inside, owners, their families and employees manually dismantle everything from automobiles to microwave ovens. E-waste, defined as old consumer electronics, is actually a very small part of the overall waste stream in these lanes, filled with the clanking of hammers on metal. And phones, laptops and old TVs aren’t the only things that can be dangerous when recycled improperly. At Agbogbloshie, burning takes place at the edge of the site, and most of what’s burned is automobile tires, which are lined up for hundreds of feet and left to smolder, producing dangerous levels of carbon monoxide and other hazardous substances.