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Toxic smoke from burning electronics spreads around the shanty town. The level of lead in blood of inhabitants is several times beyond the global norm. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Toxic smoke from burning electronics spreads around the shanty town. The level of lead in blood of inhabitants is several times beyond the global norm. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Livestock is pastured on the contaminated land. The level of lead in a soil is a dozen or so times beyond a norm. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Livestock is pastured on the contaminated land. The level of lead in a soil is a dozen or so times beyond a norm. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Although Agbogbloshie specializes in recycling and disposing of electronics, there are also dismantled cars, motorcycles and diving equipment, generally everything that could bring an income. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Although Agbogbloshie specializes in recycling and disposing of electronics, there are also dismantled cars, motorcycles and diving equipment, generally everything that could bring an income. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Halid (center) unloads a new load of e-waste with a friend. Halid moved to Agbogbloshie ten years ago from Savelugu, Northern Ghana, where he was a farmer. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Halid (center) unloads a new load of e-waste with a friend. Halid moved to Agbogbloshie ten years ago from Savelugu, Northern Ghana, where he was a farmer. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A man dismantles the hard drive of a used PC. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A man dismantles the hard drive of a used PC. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Parts of used computers. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Parts of used computers. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Justice is an engineer and works in a shop with parts and repaired electronics. He says the computers he repairs usually come from Germany and Japan, but also from China. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Justice is an engineer and works in a shop with parts and repaired electronics. He says the computers he repairs usually come from Germany and Japan, but also from China. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Men load metal wire extracted from electronics into barrels. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Men load metal wire extracted from electronics into barrels. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Rahid burns electronics to extract precious metals like copper, which he sells to earn a living. He gets about $4 -$6 USD a day. He is a teenager but doesnt know how old is he exactly. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Rahid burns electronics to extract precious metals like copper, which he sells to earn a living. He gets about $4 -$6 USD a day. He is a teenager but doesnt know how old is he exactly. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Workers burning electronics suffer injuries, burns, eye damage, lung and back problems, nausea, headaches, respiratory problems. If they start to work as kids and teenagers many of them die from cancer in their 20s. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Workers burning electronics suffer injuries, burns, eye damage, lung and back problems, nausea, headaches, respiratory problems. If they start to work as kids and teenagers many of them die from cancer in their 20s. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A man rests in his workshop. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A man rests in his workshop. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Men from Northern Ghana enjoy their day off Friday, it is a holy day for Muslims. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Men from Northern Ghana enjoy their day off Friday, it is a holy day for Muslims. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Many women from Agbogbloshie work as porters carrying goods on their heads. They earn 1$ to 3$ USD a day and often cant afford to rent a room, so they spend nights on streets where fall victim to car accidents or rape. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Many women from Agbogbloshie work as porters carrying goods on their heads. They earn 1$ to 3$ USD a day and often cant afford to rent a room, so they spend nights on streets where fall victim to car accidents or rape. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A second-hand shoe stall. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A second-hand shoe stall. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A stand promoting cell phones. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A stand promoting cell phones. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Paid public bath and toilets. Most of shacks in the slum lack sanitation and water supply. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Paid public bath and toilets. Most of shacks in the slum lack sanitation and water supply. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
To avoid paying for public toilets many people relieve themselves at the banks of canals. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
To avoid paying for public toilets many people relieve themselves at the banks of canals. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A billboard for a bar showing live matches. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A billboard for a bar showing live matches. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A local bar in the shanty town. According to outsiders who nicknamed the area Sodom and Gomorrah this is a home to robbers, prostitutes and drug dealers. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
A local bar in the shanty town. According to outsiders who nicknamed the area Sodom and Gomorrah this is a home to robbers, prostitutes and drug dealers. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Young men gather in a local bar. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Young men gather in a local bar. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Young woman from a local bar. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Young woman from a local bar. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Teenagers prepare portions of marijuana to sell. Workers in Agbogbloshie say the life here is to harsh to stand without smoking ganja. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Teenagers prepare portions of marijuana to sell. Workers in Agbogbloshie say the life here is to harsh to stand without smoking ganja. Dec 2013, Agbogbloshie, Accra.
Sunset dyes the sky over Agbogbloshie pink while the smoke black. What colour is the future of people here? The government of Ghana plans to restore the area, but that means dislodging all squatters from the land that is their only home and workplace. Dec
Sunset dyes the sky over Agbogbloshie pink while the smoke black. What colour is the future of people here? The government of Ghana plans to restore the area, but that means dislodging all squatters from the land that is their only home and workplace. Dec
Once upon a time the Korle Lagoon, Accra, Ghana, was a pristine wetland. Its waters used to be a home for thousands of fish and sea turtles, its mangroves a refuge for migratory birds escaping...
The World's Largest E-Waste Dump
Once upon a time the Korle Lagoon, Accra, Ghana, was a pristine wetland. Its waters used to be a home for thousands of fish and sea turtles, its mangroves a refuge for migratory birds escaping European winter.
Nowadays, placed in the heart of Accra Agbogblosie, a shanty town that settled on the banks of the Korle Lagoon in 1980s, it is a refuge for migrants escaping poverty in rural areas and the world's largest dump for used electronics coming from Europe and other industrialized zones. There are 70,000 people living on a massive pile of a rotting trash - one of the world's top ten worst polluted places according to the Blacksmith Institute's index.
Electronic goods contain toxic chemicals that make their recycling dirty and expensive. As a result, the illegal dumping of e-waste has become a lucrative business. Although the Basel Convention forbids export of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries, Ghana imports 215,000 tons of e-waste a year. Exporters label containers as second-hand electronics and donations. In fact, at least 50 percent of the load is trash.
Globally, about 40-50 million tons of e-waste are generated each year. No wonder, a lifespan of a PC or a cell phone is similar to that of a tropical cockroach and lasts less then two years.
Text and photographs by Przemysław Kozłowski / TESTIGO Documentary
