The Barnako Convention makes exporting e-waste into an African signatory country a criminal act

During this age of obsolescence where today’s computers, cellphones and televisions will soon be discarded as trash, about 40 million tons of digital detritus is generated every year and this figure is increasing by 4 percent annually. E-waste, comprising all electrical and electronic waste, is the fastest-growing rubbish stream in the world and few regions are feeling its effects more than West Africa.

Benin,Côte d’Ivoire,Ghana,LiberiaandNigeriatogether generate nearly a million tons of domestic e-waste every year. In addition, developed countries, especially in Europe, are exploiting lax West African customs regulations to dispose of their own techno-trash.

E-waste source

“We in the developed world get the benefit from these devices,” said Jim Puckett, head of Basel Action Network (BAN), a U.S.-based non-governmental organization that works to prevent dangerous waste shipments to developing nations. “But when our equipment becomes unusable, we externalize the real environmentalcosts and liabilities to the developing world.”

The group takes its name from the Basel Convention and it makes the movement of e-waste to countries that have not consented to that movement illegal, but imposes neither liability nor punishment. It acts more as a watchdog and a source of principles to uphold when countries draw up legislation.

The convention officially recognized e-waste as hazardous material in 1998, but has not been able to halt its flow into West Africa.

More than 70 percent of all electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) imported intoGhanais second-hand, according to a 2011 report published by the Basel Convention’s E-waste Africa Project. Of this equipment, 30 percent is not functioning and should be classified as waste, although about half of it could be repaired and resold to consumers.

Waste a double-edged sword

The influx of this waste has been a double-edged sword for the region. On one side, it has driven employment and stimulated economic growth in the recycling sector. InAccra,GhanaandLagos,Nigeria, this sector provides income to more than 30,000 people. InGhanaalone, e-waste generates between $106 million and $268 million per year in formal and informal income.

In addition to the economic boost, it’s also given people access to rare metals that are found inside many of the discarded electronics. Silver and gold, for example, are used on the printed circuit boards of most electronics, particularly cellphones. If properly harnessed and recycled, e-waste could provide 40-50 times more rare metals than equivalent deposits mined from the ground.

On the other side, West African countries lack the capacity to safely and effectively recycle all their e-waste. Across the continent, onlyKenya,NigeriaandSouth Africahave formalized strategies and facilities appropriate to the task.

When comparing the pros and cons, the scale tips toward the negative: e-waste’s effects on the health of the environment, and the health of those who process this waste informally, are dire.

Take Agbogbloshie, for example, a suburb ofAccra, one of the worst affected areas in the region with difficult living conditions. Inhabitants are often poor migrants from rural northernGhana, looking to squeeze income out of the tens of thousands of tons of e-waste which travels through this area each year.

Researchers fromJapan’s Ehime University investigated contamination in the Agbogbloshie area. Their 2012 study found that the levels of copper, zinc, lead and tin were “extremely high” in residual ash, a result of workers burning the wires they had collected to extract valuable metals. They also found “moderately high” levels of bromine, arsenic and mercury - highly toxic elements which find their way into the ground, air and water supply.

The study stressed that the concentration of many of these elements is at “serious toxic levels,” particularly for recyclers who might ingest the poisonous metals through the soil.According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to moderate levels of mercury will result in neuromuscular problems such as muscle atrophy and weakness, poor cognitive functioning, headaches and tremors.

E-waste strategies

Of the EEE Ghana imported in 2010, 85 percent was from Europe, predominantly theUnited Kingdom, 8 percent was from North America, 4 percent from Asia and 3 percent from various other countries. Used EEE is often declared “private goods,” “second-hand goods” or “for charities” in ports inAmsterdamandAntwerpto circumvent procedures designed to prevent the exporting of e-waste.

In addition toKenya,NigeriaandSouth Africa,GhanaandCôte d’Ivoirehave drafted national e-waste strategies.At a regional level, the Bamako Convention, a 1991 treaty now signed by 33 African countries, prohibits the import of any hazardous waste into the continent. Unlike the Basel Convention, which bans the unauthorized movement of waste without the consent of the receiving country, theBamakotreaty bans the import of e-waste into its member countries.

In its most recent declaration in June 2013, the Bamako Convention states that its signatory states are determined to stop Africa from becoming a “dumping ground” for the rest of the world - calling the import of hazardous waste into Africa a “crime against humanity.” The convention makes the exporting of waste into an African signatory country a criminal act and imposes a strict unlimited liability on the offending country. It is far stricter than the Basel Convention, but with far fewer signatory countries, it has less international cooperation, and less “teeth.”

Internationally, the onus has been on exporting countries to take greater responsibility for their waste. In January 2012, the European Parliament approved legislation that applies stricter controls on the exporting and recycling of EEE, including banning European companies from dumping e-waste outside of Europe. EU countries are expected to incorporate this legislation into their national laws by February 2014. These countries will also be required to recycle 45 percent of all EEE sold locally by 2016. This will rise to 85 percent in 2019.

The positive role that technology can play in Africa remains undisputed. Properly regulated, e-waste can help to develop local economies and reduce poverty. But it will take political will to make sure that legislation is adopted and enforced. Without stringent compliance with the relevant international agreements, e-waste and its many attendant threats will only grow in years to come, and the children of Agbogbloshie, and similar dumping grounds across West Africa, will continue to pay the deadly price.