Benjamin Lowy

EDITORIAL: E-WASTE

 

 

 

Agbogbloshie: Portraits at the end of E-Waste 

 

Once a wetland suburb of Accra, the Agbogbloshie slum and dump is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - that covers an unstable swamp. It is a hell on earth for poor migrant workers who toil in its toxic landscape - separating refuse from reusable metals - hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.  

  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 18, 2015Desmond, a teen from northern Ghana - who has lived in the Agbogbloshie dump site for 3 years - burns the plastic, rubber and metal off of manufactured parts made of copper. He plans to sell the resulting raw copper back to construction and mineral component wholesalers, which reintroduce the recycled copper back into the world market. The litter and debris from the burning fields remain on the scorched ground.Once a wetland suburb of Accra, Agbogbloshie is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - that covers an unstable swamp, the garbage and soot a carpet that sways with every step, sometimes swallowing new migrants who arrived hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 18, 2015Jon - who I affectionately named Tupac - lives and works in the Agbogbloshie dump, burning plastic, rubber and metal off of manufactured parts made of copper. The raw copper is sold back to construction and mineral component wholesalers, which reintroduce the recycled copper back into the world market. The litter and debris from the burning fields remain on the scorched ground.Once a wetland suburb of Accra, Agbogbloshie is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - that covers an unstable swamp, the garbage and soot a carpet that sways with every step, sometimes swallowing new migrants who arrived hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 18, 2015Yaro, the self-styled leader of a band of migrant teens, poses in front of the copper burning grounds in the Agbogbloshie dump site. His pants are held up by a frayed jump rope, and his {quote}Freakish{quote} t-shit was printed with cigarette boxes and ironic phrase {quote}You are going to die anyways.{quote} Yaro and his gang are part of a distinct pecking order in the dump - where men and teens burn the plastic, rubber and metal off of manufactured parts made of copper. First there are the buyers of the waste, men who cart in used computers, automobiles and any other junk they can get their hands on. In turn this manufactured garbage is sold to small {quote}storefronts{quote} in the dump that distribute it to the younger men to burn. Below that strata of employment are the boys that walk through the debris fields picking up the copper remains hoping to collect enough to fill a kilo bag. The resulting raw copper is sold back to construction and mineral component wholesalers, which reintroduce the recycled copper back into the world market. Once a wetland suburb of Accra, Agbogbloshie is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - that covers an unstable swamp, the garbage and soot a carpet that sways with every step, sometimes swallowing new migrants who arrived hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Hassan Hussein - who has lived in the Agbogbloshie dump for 14 years - leans on a small wooden housing frame that litters the dump site. The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • benlowyAgbogbloshie, Ghana | December 19, 2015Yakub, 17, carries a jumble of computer wires, a few alternators and several automobile starters in a makeshift bowl on his head. All these parts are destined to the Agbogbloshie burn sites, where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components. A wetland suburb of Accra, Agbogbloshie is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - that covers an unstable swamp, the garbage and soot a carpet that sways with every step, sometimes swallowing new migrants who arrived hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 19, 2015Ernest looks for raw copper among the Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components. The dump works with a specific process. First there are the buyers of the waste, men who cart in used computers, automobiles and any other junk they can get their hands on. In turn this manufactured garbage is sold to small {quote}storefronts{quote} in the dump that distribute it to the younger men to burn. Below that strata of employment are the boys that walk through the debris fields picking up the copper remains hoping to collect enough to fill a kilo bag. The resulting raw copper is sold back to construction and mineral component wholesalers, which reintroduce the recycled copper back into the world market. A wetland suburb of Accra, Agbogbloshie is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - that covers an unstable swamp, the garbage and soot a carpet that sways with every step, sometimes swallowing new migrants who arrived hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 19, 2015Yakubu Tanko carries the shell of a TV filled with computer and electrical wires on his head. All these parts are destined to the Agbogbloshie burn sites, where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components. The dump works with a specific process. First there are the buyers of the waste, men who cart in used computers, automobiles and any other junk they can get their hands on. In turn this manufactured garbage is sold to small {quote}storefronts{quote} in the dump that distribute it to the younger men to burn. Below that strata of employment are the boys that walk through the debris fields picking up the copper remains hoping to collect enough to fill a kilo bag. The resulting raw copper is sold back to construction and mineral component wholesalers, which reintroduce the recycled copper back into the world market. A wetland suburb of Accra, Agbogbloshie is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - that covers an unstable swamp, the garbage and soot a carpet that sways with every step, sometimes swallowing new migrants who arrived hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 18, 2015Two teens burn the plastic and rubber off of copper wiring, which they plan to resell, in the e-waste dump of Agbogbloshie. Once a wetland suburb of Accra, the area is home to a vast dumping ground and slum that stretches as far as the eye can see. Once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - though since disputed - it is a hell on earth for poor migrant workers who toil in its toxic landscape - separating refuse from reusable metals - hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 19, 2015Several young men take apart discarded printers - still filled with toner - breaking them into base components, hoping to find enough copper and aluminum to eke out a small profit in the mass dumping ground that is Agbogbloshie. A wetland suburb of Accra, the area is home to a vast dumping ground and slum that stretches as far as the eye can see. Once labeled the world's largest e-waste site - though since disputed - it is a hell on earth for poor migrant workers who toil in its toxic landscape - separating refuse from reusable metals - hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • Agbogbloshie, Ghana | December 19, 2015A older man - who didn't want to be identified by his name - works in a scrap yard in the Agbogbloshie dump site. Before the component parts get past off to the teens who work the copper fires, other workers hammer away at car radiators and refrigerator coils to free the hidden copper. The raw copper is sold back to construction and mineral component wholesalers, which reintroduce the recycled copper back into the world market. Once a wetland suburb of Accra, Agbogbloshie is home to a vast dumping ground - once labeled the world's largest e-waste site.
  • Abdul Karim is a materials buyer. He sits all day in the sweltering heat and dust of the Agbogbloshie dump site with a small scale, buying raw copper and parts back from the young boys who toil in the burning fields. The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
  • The Agbogbloshie dump's burning fields - where young men - almost all internal migrants from Ghana's northern Tamale region - toil in toxic smoke, burning down manufactured parts into their basic copper components hoping to make a slim income to feed themselves each day.
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