Heavy smoke: How can the iPhone poison Africa?
While most African countries gained independence decades ago, a new form of exploitation is eroding the foundation of their liberty. In our age of rapid technological innovation, appetite for the latest gadgets is increasing insatiably and Africa is ranked as the world’s fastest growing phone market after Asia.
Each year, millions of tons of electronic waste (e-waste) are generated as consumers eagerly upgrade to the newest models, often discarding still-functional devices. Much of this e-waste, including everything from smartphones to refrigerators, finds its way to Africa, creating a growing environmental and health crisis.
E-waste covers a large spectrum of valuable electrical and electronic products incorporating non-precious metals such as iron, copper, and aluminum; precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum; and plastics and hazardous substances such lead, glass, mercury, batteries, flame retardants, and cadmium, among others. In 2019, about 53.6 million tons (Mt) of e-waste was generated in the world, with Asia ranking highest at 24.9 Mt, followed by America with 13.1 Mt and Europe with 12 Mt. In Africa, an average of 2.5 kg of e-waste per capita and a total of 2.9 Mt of e-waste were generated in 2019, while an estimated 3 Mt of e-waste was generated on the continent in 2021.
The handling of e-waste in African countries is often limited to crude processing means in backyards, for instance smashing or breaking open casings, manual stripping to remove electronic boards for resale, and burning to extract materials and other bulk components. This method of waste management has a devasting impact on health and the environment.
Influx of e-waste in Africa
It is estimated that 16 to 38% of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) collected in the EU and 80% in the US is sent “legally and/or illegally” to developing countries in the form of reused or discarded devices. The e-waste crisis in Africa is a stark manifestation of waste colonialism. Inadequate waste management facilities and recycling capabilities pose severe threats to community health and the environment. E-waste’s hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, when improperly disposed of, pollute soil and water.
According to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, out of 5.1 million tons of electronic waste shipped across borders in 2022, 3.3 million tons was shipped from developed countries to developing countries.
Western nations export used electronic items under the guise of donations or “second-hand goods.” However, much of these items are not functional, and this leads to massive e-waste dump in African countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya. These countries receive filled containers of electronic devices such as phones, kitchen appliances, and even automobiles.
Scavengers, typically children, are frequently involved in waste collection and painstakingly dismantle items for their dangerous fragments. A joint report by the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and its research arm UNITAR stated that recycling lags far behind the mass electronic waste being produced and only 20% of the electronic waste is properly recycled.
Children at risk
Lagos, Nigeria, and several townships in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana have become increasingly attractive locations for developed countries to dump their old electronics. According the United Nations’ Environment Program (UNEP), untraced waste ends up in Africa, and according to a report published in Environmental Health Perspectives, 100,000 used personal computers arrive each month at the Nigerian port of Lagos alone.
Ghana also confronts issues in controlling imported e-waste. E-waste is mainly disposed of at landfills, the largest of which is located in Agbogbloshie, a commercial district near Accra’s center. Although e-waste contains some relatively benign materials, electronic devices contain hundreds of highly toxic substances.
RT spoke to a resident of Agbogbloshie, where large amounts of such waste end up, and he gave us an insight into how electronic dumps are recycled.
“They mostly roam and search for wires, canned things and refrigerator coils to recover metals using magnetic tool without using protective materials like nose mask, hand gloves and the rest, which are likely to give them disease or something. After finding those valuable metals they dump the rest of the bulks in the waterways, which is the Odaw River,” he told RT.
“The health hazard is the heavy smoke that is made mostly by burning the plastic objects. In order to keep the fire burning, they use old car tires, which causes air pollution and which doesn’t only affect them but road users as well as the people living in those areas. The locals are expressing concerns about the negative impact of e-waste dumps on their health and the environment. Many are worried about the toxic chemicals dumped into the river, contaminating food sources and causing health problems,” he added.
Most of the e-waste shipped to the metropolitan port cities of Lagos and Accra is unsalvageable, and those who often dismantle this e-waste come from poorer and younger segments of the population. Often, low-income children in Ghana and Nigeria amongst others end up burning the e-waste in highly unsafe conditions to salvage what few precious metals remain.
Children are more vulnerable to e-waste’s toxicity due to their rapidly developing organs. Through dermal contact and inhalation, as well as indirectly through contaminated food and water, children exposed to e-waste’s neurotoxins and carcinogens may suffer from brain and kidney damage, respiratory illness, developmental and behavioral disorders, and eventually cancer.
Why regulation doesn’t work
Mutiu Iyanda Lasisi, chief visionary officer at the Infoprations Limited data company in Nigeria, believes that efforts to curb this menace have proven ineffective.
“We have seen several summits, conferences and symposiums on the issue. Yet the deliberations have never translated into tangible outcomes absolutely. Political leaders of the West know the implications of having much of the waste in their domains. That’s why they choose that path often,” he told RT.
The international community has made several attempts to regulate the flow of e-waste, notably through the Basel Convention, established in 1989 in response to public outcry over the importation of toxic wastes to developing countries. The Basel Convention stipulates those hazardous wastes, as defined in Annexes I and VIII, should not be traded without prior written notification and consent between trading partners. It also obliges parties to manage e-waste in an environmentally sound manner.
The European Union developed additional regulations, including requirements for prior notification before shipping WEEE, a ban on hazardous waste exports to non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, and product design standards to increase recycling rates.
However, the Basel Convention has been largely ineffective in curbing the illegal e-waste trade. This ineffectiveness is primarily due to the United States’ failure to ratify the convention and the ban amendment.
African Union member states also formulated the Bamako Convention in 1998 to block the inflow of hazardous wastes into African countries, addressing gaps that the Basel Convention could not fill. Despite these efforts, international and domestic laws designed to facilitate e-waste management and regulate the e-waste trade remain ineffective.
In the United States, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) exempts a significant portion of e-waste from strict environmental regulations associated with proper recycling and disposal methods. Additionally, the Basel Convention’s reuse loophole allows e-waste generators and recyclers to legally ship toxic e-waste to developing African countries. Since the US is not a party to the Basel Convention, it can ignore the loophole altogether.
This regulatory landscape creates a perfect storm: high demand for used electronics in Africa, high recycling costs in developed countries, and lax international laws effectively permitting the international e-waste trade. As a result, e-waste exporters continue to send their waste abroad as an economically rational option.
Moreover, lack of differentiation between reusable electronics and waste electronics hinders efforts to curb e-waste imports. Currently, global harmonized tariff codes do not distinguish between new electronics, used electronics, and waste electronics. This lack of differentiation hampers efforts to target specific imports and reduce the amount of e-waste entering African countries. Even targeted approaches by African nations are doomed to fail if they cannot identify which products are reusable. Consequently, containers of toxic e-waste continue to flow unabated from the developed world to developing African countries, with little regard for what happens to the waste once it is shipped.
Addressing the e-waste crisis requires international cooperation, strict measures, and sustainable practices. Developed countries must take responsibility for their waste and support African nations in developing proper e-waste management infrastructure. Ratifying international treaties like the Basel Convention and enforcing existing regulations still remain crucial steps toward mitigating the e-waste problem.
