E-waste is piling up in Ghana. For some boys, it signals a job opportunity - but at what cost to their health?

JOY FM reporter Peter Korda recently took a trip to a dumping site to investigate a growing problem in Accra: e-waste.

The term e-waste refers to old electronics - computers, tv sets, fridges - that have stopped working and are dumped at various waste sites. The problem with e-waste is that it contains carcinogenic chemicals like lead, cadmium, and others that are poisonous to the human body and the environment. The "e-waste" buzzword has been floating around in North American lexicons for some time now, mirroring the rising trendiness - and urgency - of climate change awareness. The issue of e-waste is coming to the fore in Ghana because there's a huge market in used electronics here. When the goods inevitably fizzle out, they are trashed at mass dumping grounds. But the story doesn’t end there – young men living in the dumping areas take the parts, burn them down and take them apart to re-sell them to investors within the city. As a result, these boys are directly inhaling toxins produced by burning the electronics and sending them into the atmosphere.

We visited an area near the Korle lagoon in the Agobloshie area of the city to talk to some kids who work and live amongst this refuse every day. The boys range in age from 12 to 18. Some are exposed to these chemicals all day long. Some of them go to school and some of them have stopped. They all work on the abandoned electronics as a source of livelihood. Some are aware of the health risks but most seem unconcerned. For them, it’s a consistent form of income in a country where jobs are in short supply.