UN Concerned About West Africa’s E-Waste Problem

West Africa’s mounting electronic waste, or e-waste, is presenting both opportunities and problems.  The United Nations Environment Program is proposing better regulation to protect both human health and what is a burgeoning, valuable economy in recycled electronics.

From dead laptops to battered old refrigerators, West Africa’s lively economy in recycling electronics is growing fast.  More and more old and broken electronics are being shipped to Africa. Consumer demand has risen across the world, generating a massive waste stream of such goods – which usually have a relatively short life span.

For years, Africa has been the recipient of near end-of-life electronic equipment imported onto the continent for refurbishment, recycling and further use – as well as illegal dumping.

“In Ghana our investigators found that about 70 percent of all the electronic equipment imported were used electronics,” explained Michael Stanley-Jones, a U.N. public information officer for environmental issues.

“Thirty percent of those second-hand imports were non-functioning.  They should have been classified as waste,” he added.  “But this is evidence that the import regime is not robust enough to capture this illegal transiting or trans-boundary movement of what is a hazardous product.”

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Source: Voice of America
By Jane Labous