The illegal dumping of Hazardous

e-waste in Ghana by the

industrialised countries

By Mike Anane, Campaigner against e-waste dumping in

Ghana

Contents

• Factors driving e-waste

• Rapid Obsolescence

• Illegal E-waste shipments and dumping-The

Ghanaian Situation-Public health and

environmental impact .E-waste -Toxic Brew

• Solutions

• Conclusion

Introduction

• With progression in technology, it is becoming increasingly necessary to change our ICT equipment every one to three years be they old televisions, computers, printers, GPS systems, mobile phones. As consumers increase their desire for the latest laptops, flat screens and smart phones, the problematic trash they ultimately become also increase.

UNEP Estimates that worldwide, 20 million to 50 million tons of electronic

equipment are discarded in the US, Canada and the UK

• UNEP Estimates that worldwide, 20 million to 50 million tons of electronic equipment are discarded in the US, Canada and the UK.They are shipped and dumped illegally in developing nations suchas Ghana for unsafe salvage and recovery.

• The e-waste statistics are almost as staggering for cell phones, they are equally as dangerous. As components of the lithium batteries in cell phones, as well as various flame retardants within cell phones are toxic to humans.

• An estimated 1 billion mobile phone handsets are sold each year,with 1 million per day coming from Nokia alone. People upgrade their mobile phones every year and only a small percentage of these phones are disposed of safely. Shorter handset replacementcycles and a greater demand for cheaper phones are fueling e-waste exports to Africa

• The disposal of e-waste is a major problem because of the presence of toxic elements such as lead, mercury, and cadmium. Older CRT (cathode ray tube) TV sets can contain more than 4 pounds of lead each. Newer flat panel TVs can contain high levels of mercury.

• Despite increasing reports about large quantities of broken IT being illegally dumped in Africa, the industrialized countries continue to ship tones of used electronic devices containing toxic substances to Ghana and other parts of West Africa with little regulation and enforcement to protect people and the environment in these countries

Factors driving e-waste

• Rapid Obsolescence

• E-waste is among the fastest growing waste streams across the world today, fuelled by exponential growth in the use of electronic equipment, especially PCs and their rapid rate of planned obsolescence, the lifespan of a computer or laptop has shrunk from 4-5 years to just over 2 years.

• Over 100,000 computers become obsolete in the United States every day. The USEPA estimates that 250 million computers will become obsolete in the next five years and this number fuelled by the proliferation of portable and disposable devices such as laptops, tablets, smartphone.,

•Conversion from analog TV signals to digital.

• In 2009 alone in the US Industry watchers estimate that people bought over 32 million digital televisions during the switchover.

• There are no policies in place in the United States to prevent the export of e-waste

• There is no government-mandated system for recycling used electronics -- and no regulations to prevent the export of high-tech equipment for environmentally unsound recycling. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not classify e-waste as hazardous waste despite the international perspective. Flow of toxic e-waste to other countries goes “virtually unrestricted.

• Cheaper to dump in developing countries

• Much easier and cheaper than setting up environment friendly waste treatment and disposal facilities. As the environmental laws become more stringent in the developed world and as more hazardous waste is being generated, exporting this waste to poorer countries, even at a cost to the exporter is a financially attractive alternative.

• People go round

international conventions

by labeling the illegal

shipments "usable,

second-hand goods” My

research shows that

between 70-80 percent of

the electronics shipped

here under the guise of

“working reuseable

equipment.

• Many of the well-

known brands such as

Compaq, Dell, Gateway,

Philips, Canon, Hewlett

Packard Labels can be

found at the e-waste

dumps.

Northumberland Mental health Trust

• Growing evidence that I have gathered over the years indicate that computer equipment from high profile companies, hospitals, Banks, state institutions, Ministries of State in the UK, US, Canada and other Scandinavian countries are being illegally shipped and dumped in Ghana .

E-waste from Tele Danmark

E-waste from Derbyshire

Constabulary dumped in Ghana

E-waste from State of Maryland Department of

Public safety and correctional services

E-waste from Westminster College, UK.

E-waste from Deutse Telekom in

Germany dumped in Ghana

South Bank University, UK,E-waste in

Ghana

E-waste from the Dutch Ministry of

Environment dumped in Ghana

UCL Hospital UK

E-waste from Yorkshire Police

E-WASTE FROM USEPA DUMPED IN

GHANA

• Hundreds of people wearing no protective clothing troop to e-waste dumps daily to dismantle and burn e-waste with their bare hands. An overwhelming majority" of the population in at the e-waste dumps suffer from respiratory problems because of open air burning methods to remove the plastic and extract valuable components. Wires and cables are often coated with endocrine-disrupting flame retardants.

• Children who are driven by poverty scavenge on the waste dumps for metals thus exposing themselves to a cocktail of dangerous chemicals. One out of every four people scavenging on e-waste dumps is a child under the age of 18 years. (5-17years)

• Children at the dumpsite sustain cuts from sharp ends of e-waste, they complain of headaches, burns, respiratory problems, cardiac problems, skin problems and a wide range of ailments.

• Studies of e-waste dumps

in Ghana by Greenpeace

have measured

contaminants and toxic

metals like lead present

in soil and water at more

than 100 times typical

background levels as

rivers and lagoons are

filled with e-waste

One out of every four people scavenging on e-waste

dumps is a child under the age of 18 years. (5-17years)

E-waste -Toxic Brew-Litany of Toxins

• E-waste contain a variety of heavy metals and other toxic compounds such as cadmium, barium, mercury, chromium, lead, arsenic and brominated flame retardant. when high-tech electronics are broken up or burned or degraded, they release these toxic materials.

• A number of toxic substances are used in the production of electronics, from the liquid crystal displays on cell phones to the circuit boards inside computers. The lead used in glass panels of computer monitors, in soldering of printed circuit boards and in cell phones can leach from landfills and contaminate food and water sources. The results are multiple health and environmental threats with children being highly susceptible to toxic substances which could lead to long term cancers affecting the lungs and all parts of the body.

• Cadmium used in computer-chip resistors, semiconductors and cell phones damages the kidneys. Mercury, used in circuit boards and cell phones can accumulate in people, animals and plants, potentially leading to brain damage. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), used in the plastic casings of computers, televisions and cell phones, may increase risk of some cancers and also accumulate in human blood and fat tissue and can disrupt the body's hormonal balance. When burned, some of these plastics release dioxins.

Future

• E-waste is the fastest-growing category of municipal waste in the U.S according to the Environmental Protection Agency, with billions of people now regularly using advanced electronics or updating old ones, the indiscriminate and illegal shipments and dumping of e-waste are bound to increase

Solutions

• WEEE initiative to encourage e-waste recycling in some parts Europe is clearly insufficient.

• There is the need for stronger awareness and action to solve the e-waste problem.

• Better enforcement of recycling and anti-dumping laws and greater action from manufacturers

Manufacturers must take back electronic products

when they are obsolete or get to their end of life.

• Producers should be responsible for the whole lifecycle of their products, Electronics manufacturers – Philips, Dell, Panasonic, Sharp etc should phase out toxic chemicals and introduce global recycling programs to tackle the problem. The sheer expense of making producers pay for the disposal of their computer equipment wherever it is sold or used across the world, will spur the industry towards designing “greener”gadgets that are easily recyclable and less toxic.

US position on E-waste

• Currently, electronics are not viewed as hazardous or toxic waste by the United States Federal Government. Items such as CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors, laptops, televisions, and phones are classified as universal waste. There are no Federal electronic waste recycling laws. Current policy leads to high exportation of electronics to Africa.

• New Bill in the US Congress

• U.S. Congress Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, introduced a resolution in congress that calls for the United States to ban the export of toxic e-waste to developing nations.

Countries should review their environmental

laws and regulations and the penalties

• There is the need for countries to review their environmental laws and regulations and the penalties contained in them, to ensure that they are a sufficient deterrent to companies and organizations that may be tempted to breach them.

• Consumer awareness

• Improve consumer awareness of the impacts of e-waste, increase the number of collection and amount of electronics recycled responsibly. Consumers should be interested in what happens to their TVs, computers and other electronic gadgets, they just don’t disappear ask questions, where does the stuff go, find out how it is disposed or recycled.

Every country should take steps to develop a National Strategy

for Electronic Waste

• Despite the publicity of

the alarming impacts,

most countries barely

monitor or

acknowledge the need

for the proper disposal

or handling of obsolete

and end of life

electronics

Green Procurement

• Government agencies need to develop a national strategy for electronics stewardship, including procedures for how the agencies manage their own e-waste.

• Government agencies are major consumers of information and communications technology (ICT) products and services. To better manage and reduce the environmental impacts from the use of ICT, agencies should be encouraged during procurement to consider the effect of their used ICT on the environment including an assessment of the costs of alternative procurement processes including cost that may be incurred, at the point of disposal of the asset.

Tracking devices can be used to detect illegally

exported e-waste and identify culprits

• An investigation was carried out by the BBC Panorama team to identify possible sources of e-waste

– And the export route e-waste was following from UK Made UK public aware of correct e-waste collection and recycling

– Made UK public aware of consequences of incorrect handling of e-waste

– E.g. children dealing in toxic waste

– Made potential e-waste criminals aware of the high likelihood of detection and arrest

–• The Interpol Global E-waste Crime

Group.– An intelligence-led global

operation to investigate the links between organized crime and the illegal export of e-waste.

•

Conclusion

• As technology continues to progress, huge numbers of assets need to be retired regularly and responsibly Information and communication technologies (ICTs) equipment whether for voice, data or video messages they all contribute to the increasing illegal shipments and dumping of e-waste in Ghana and the rest of west Africa. Help us to protect our families, friends and the world from dangerous chemicals from e-waste.

Stop the illegal E-waste exports

and dumping in Ghana

One man’s poison is another

woman’s meat

E-waste clearly marked for disposal illegaly

dumped in Ghana -The involvement of organised

crime cannot be ruled out.