Agbogbloshie – Modern Day Sodom and Gomorrah

An assemblage of discarded electronic components, collected from a computer shop and from a friend who works with electric skateboards. It took the artist 3months to complete this work, using wood scavenged from the streets of London as a canvas.

E-waste contains a wide range of valuable materials, such as precious metals, rare earth metals, and other minerals. For instance, in one ton of discarded cell phones, there is about 130 pounds of copper, 3 ounces of silver, 1/5th of an ounce of gold, and smaller amounts of palladium and platinum. These materials can be recovered and used to make new electronic devices, instead of having to extract them from the earth, which is costly and destructive to the environment.

E-waste is a global problem, but certain countries and regions are disproportionately affected. One of the regions that is particularly affected by the shipment of e-waste is Africa. Many developed countries, including the United States, Canada, and those in Europe, ship large quantities of e-waste to Africa, where it is often not properly managed or recycled.

According to the United Nations, Africa receives the highest per capita imports of e-waste of any region in the world. The countries that receive the most e-waste in Africa include Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. These countries are often targeted because they lack the proper infrastructure and regulations to manage e-waste, making it easier and cheaper to dispose of e-waste there.

The e-waste that is shipped to Africa is often handled by informal recyclers who lack the proper equipment or knowledge to safely disassemble and recycle the materials. This can lead to severe environmental and health hazards for the workers and for the communities near e-waste processing plants. For example, in many cases e-waste is burned in open-air pits to extract metals, releasing toxic fumes into the air and polluting soil and water.

The UNEP estimates that around 50 million metric tons of e-waste are generated each year and by 2050, this number is expected to reach 120 million metric tons, of which 90% ends up in landfills or is not recycled properly. Furthermore, in Africa, about 85% of the e-waste is recycled in the informal sector, where the workers often lack protective gear and knowledge of how to safely recycle the materials and are exposed to hazardous chemicals.

It’s important to note that it is illegal to export hazardous e-waste to developing countries under the Basel Convention, many countries still ship these e-waste illegally, this is due to lack of enforcement and regulations in these countries. It’s important for developed countries to implement stricter regulations on e-waste disposal, for individuals to recycle their e-waste properly and for developing countries to invest in necessary infrastructure and regulations to properly manage e-waste.

 We hope to draw attention to the issue and inspire others to take action to reduce the amount of e-waste that ends up in landfills.