The Agbogbloshie neighborhood is located in Accra, the capital of Ghana. There existed one of the largest electronic waste dumps in the world, receiving about 15,000 tons of material annually. The project "E-Waste in Ghana: Tracing Transboundary Flows" won the 13th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award, and its images present a brutal contrast between the environmental tragedy and those who seek an economic opportunity wading through pollution and discarded metal.
Photographer and researcher Muntaka Chasant explains on his official website that the Ghanaian government "violently demolished" the Agbogbloshie dump in July 2021. Anyone would conclude that this is a great step forward to reduce illegal e-waste dumping in the region, but Muntaka adds that that action was a direct attack on the poor of Accra, cutting basic livelihood lines.
As expected, the demolition did not stop e-waste processing, but rather transformed one dump into many, closer to people, appearing across Accra and Tema, a nearby city. Muntaka joined forces with French photographer Bénédicte Kurzen and journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to create the project "E-Waste in Ghana: Tracing Transboundary Flows", and these are some of their images:
Survival in an e-waste dump
Muntaka Chasant for Fondation Carmignac
Agbogbloshie came to receive about 15,000 tons of e-waste per year, combining phones, computers, and all kinds of electronics. United Nations statistics (updated to 2022) speak of a production of 62 million tons of electronic waste globally, and it is projected that that number will jump to 82 million in 2030. 91 billion dollars in the trash, combining copper, gold, iron, and other secondary materials.
From a technical/legal point of view, Ghana prohibits the importation of many forms of e-waste, but bribes to port officials are an everyday thing. This multiplies the appearance of informal dumps on the coast of Ghana, and attracts thousands of collectors seeking some money during the dry season. Many of them are children, and during the reduction process they are exposed to a wide range of toxic chemicals, among which lead, mercury, and brominated flame retardants stand out.
Also joining this "recycling industry" are many repair and sales initiatives in the area. The NPR article mentions Zongo Avenue in Accra, home to hundreds of shops that sell recovered equipment, from computers to televisions and other appliances.
Sources: NPR, Fondation Carmignac, Muntaka Chasant, Bénédicte Kurzen, Anas Aremeyaw Anas
