E-waste Central
As someone who plies their day-trade in electronics repair, while also having a high degree of curiosity about the world and being a voracious reader, it may have been inevitable that I would learn about the phenomenon that was Agbogbloshie.
Located in Ghana, West Africa, Agbogbloshie rose to prominence a few years ago as a repository for international e-waste, much of it coming from Europe further up north.
It was a sight of horror for international observers, and a blight for the official government, but the local people saw it as a recycling hub and thriving market of sorts. Old products were dismantled, their components placed in organized piles, and anything of value that could be harvested was, often using processes that were toxic and environmentally unhealthy.
Precious metals were extracted via smelting processes and sold as raw material and turned into jewellry, and other items of use were manufactured from the scrap.
After its dismantling by the government, there was some dismay expressed among the people who developed skills and plied a trade from Agbogbloshie, and the word is that numerous new mini Agbogbloshies have now bloomed, started by the scattered disciples of the original.
The photos are still online as well as some commentary from foreign visitors who saw it up close. You’d hate to live there or eat/drink anything from there. It looks pretty toxic, but beyond that there’s some kind of inspiration to derive form the atmosphere of creativity and entrepreneurship that existed there for a while,
The e-waste problem is not going away. Maybe the Agbogbloshie project had to come to an end for good reasons, but surely some lessons can be derived from it. WHen we talk of “the right to repair” and a more modular world, Agbogbloshie offers us the clearest view as to what we can develop upon.
I imagine a lot of those circuit boards, electronic parts and housings were not reusable in a functional sense because they were made with patents and proprietary licenses and other corporate flimflam designed to tightly control the profit chain the whole way through, right down to denying the end user the ability to repair their own stuff or go to a “non-authorized repairer” (ie: anyone independent of the brand, which is usually some like me).
Consumers should be able to see this world too. With an awareness of where their e-waste ends up, maybe they can make more considered choices towards products that are more repairable and durable. Otherwise we will all be eating, drinking and breathing in the toxic soup of what’s leftover.
And imagine what we could do with the scrap that we instead decide to just ship elsewhere.
