Accra’s e-waste quagmire - An existential threat
Thick, dark and foggy smoke made its way into the atmosphere. The dense clouds of smoke containing toxic gasses spread across the Old Fadama slum, located at Agbogbloshie in the Greater Accra Region, impeding vision beyond 30 metres.
Advertisement
The emissions emanated from dealers in scrap metal who openly burn plastic-coated wires and cables of electronic waste (e-waste) in their desperate search for copper, aluminium and other useful metals.
Precarious as that environment was, 14-year-old Tahiru Yidana and dozens others were seen manually disassembling and burning parts of obsolete computers, fridges, televisions and other e-waste to extract useful materials. I met him during my fourth visit to the slum community on Saturday, August 5, 2023.
The school drop-out is one of the about 10,000 dealers in scrap metal who were displaced following the demolition of the infamous Agbogbloshie scrap yard on July 1, 2021. At age 10, he had been actively involved in the scrap metal business at the 20-acre Agbogbloshie scrapyard, located about 300 metres away from the Old Fadama slum.
This scrapyard had gained notoriety as one of the most polluted places in the world. The activities of these scrap metal dealers posed serious environmental and health threats as captured in the article below: https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/features/dying-to-live-the-case-of-scrap-metal-business-in-accra.html
Members of the public heaved a sigh of relief when the scrapyard was demolished, hoping that it would end the heavy air pollution from the burning of e-waste. However, my visits to the slum between July, 2022 and January 6, 2024 revealed that Yidana (now 14) and his partners in crime had pitched camps along the heavily polluted Odaw River that straddles the Old Fadama slum of over 100,000 residents.
Although Section 89 of Ghana’s Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560) provides that no child under 18 years can engage in hazardous work (dirty, difficult and dangerous work), Yidana and other children, some below 12 years, engage in the labour-intense and energy-draining activities without personal protection equipment (PPE).
“I have no one to take care of me so I cannot stop this work because that is what puts food on my table,” the school drop-out said.
The scars from burns, infected wounds, reddish teary eyes, intermittent dry coughs and unkempt bodies provided ample evidence to the negative physical impact of the scrap business on them.
Health impact
Burning of e-waste at Old Fadama also affects livestock and poses health threats to the public
While these scrap metal dealers continue to burn e-waste with the hope of putting food on the table, they are actually killing themselves slowly and increasing the vulnerabilities of residents of Old Fadama. “Many of us cough a lot, making it difficult for us to sleep at night,” Jagir Manaoba, a 41-year-old resident of Old Fadama, lamented.
Another resident, 23-year-old Amina Asibi, said the smoke from burning e-waste got into their rooms and made life uncomfortable for them. “I have itchy eyes and sometimes feel dizzy because of the smoke from the scrap dealers,” she added.
The 4.5 million residents in the Greater Accra Region and foreigners in the country are also at risk because according to health experts, the inhalation of polluted air from toxic gases pose severe health threats such as respiratory diseases, chronic nausea and severe headaches.
An environmental health expert at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Carl Stephen Osei, said apart from being a major environmental risk factor for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, burning of e-waste also causes heart failure, stroke, reproductive issues, abortions and infertility.
Dr Osei added that emissions from e-waste contained metals such as lead, manganese, copper, boron, zinc that pollute land and water bodies. “When it rains, the run-off water carries these toxic metals into our drinking water or food, and this can cause kidney, liver and brain damage,” he added. He explained that the situation was even dire for vulnerable groups such as young children, the elderly, pregnant women, those with a heightened sensitivity towards pollution, and those with pre-existing illnesses or compromised immune systems.
Smoke from the scrap metal enclave engulfs Old Fadama
Climate effects
Apart from the health effects of the scrap metal business, the open burning of e-waste accelerates the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thereby directly contributing to global warming.
The Director, Climate Vulnerabilities and Adaptation at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Antwi Boasiako Amoah, explained that when e-waste was openly burnt, it releases harmful gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), both potent greenhouse gases GHGs) into the atmosphere which affects the climate system.
“The improper handling of e-waste, including burning, has dire implications on groundwater because some of the heavy metals sip into the ground and end up in water bodies; and this gets the water contaminated and harmful to both aquatic animals and human health,” he said.
Again, he said when livestock fed on the ground or land that was contaminated by these metals, their products such as milk and meat would be poisoned and made unsafe for human consumption.
Some dealers in scrap metal burning e-waste to extract useful material
Regulation
Pursuant to Ghana's obligations under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal, the Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act, 2016 (Act 917) (the E-Waste Act) was passed to regulate the treatment of hazardous, electronic and electrical waste. Act 917 defines e-waste as discarded electronic equipment inclusive of all components, subassemblies, and consumables which are part of the product at the time of discarding. The E-waste Act requires importers, exporters, manufacturers and distributors to register with the EPA so as to facilitate the tracking and flow of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE).
To promote recycling of e-waste, the Act also requires manufacturers and distributors to take back used EEEs or e-waste they manufactured or sold. There is also an obligation to make sure that e-waste is recycled and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.
In spite of this arrangement, hundreds of tonnes of near-waste EEE continue to be imported into the country mainly from the United States of America (USA), Asia, Australia, and Western Europe.
It is estimated that about 500 containers of these second-hand electronic products are imported every year, with a chunk of it that are not able to function under one year ending up in the hands of informal sector players.
Tahiru Yidana scavenges the scrap enclave at Old Fadama for useful metals
Is EPA sleeping?
As part of measures to soundly manage e-waste, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched an initiative with a private company, Excellent Waste Management, in October, 2021, seeking to monitor how institutions store and manage their e-waste.
The Executive Director of the EPA, Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, had said the project would guarantee that electronic products were disposed by the right people at the licensed facility. However, two years after the initiative was launched, it is yet to be implemented.
In an interview on December 23, 2023, Dr Kokofu said the EPA was still putting in place the needed processes for the project to take off.
Regarding what step the EPA was taking to address the incessant burning of e-waste at the Old Fadama slum, he said: “I want to assure you that these recalcitrant enemies of the environment will be stopped with immediate effect. The EPA’s enforcement officers will collaborate with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to get the police to assist us in clearing the area of these scrap dealers,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, my latest visit to the slum community on January 9, 2024, showed that Yidana and the other dealers in scrap metal were still wreaking havoc to the environment with impunity. While they fill their pockets with money, they are killing thousands of people slowly.
Immediate steps must be taken to halt these crude method of handling e-waste and promote formalisation of the sector to save human lives and the environment.
