E-waste in Ghana

I share the vision of Jonas Dauwe’s blog ‘How efficient is the government policy?’. The European Union has a regulation about e-waste, but al lot of people don’t follow the rules.

Ghana for example is the destination number one for electronic refuse. Big boats transport containers, filled with old or broken televisions, computers and refrigerators, to the African country. These practices are illegal, but at the port of Antwerp there isn’t enough staff to check all the cargo.

Ghana signed an international law which obliges them to control the load, but they refuse to do it. Little children have to process the waste with their bare hands and the environment of the refuse-dumps gets polluted.

   

The western countries should take care of their own garbage instead of soiling Third World countries. These actions strengthen the economic and ecologic difference between Europe and Africa and this is not the way it should be.

Matthias Cierkens

(Sources:

http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/environment/waste_management/l21210_en.htm

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/video_index.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/jul/06/canada-africa

http://actua.canvas.be/vranckx/vranckx-0702-ons-vuil-in-afrika/

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/poisoning-the-poor-electroni/

http://www.danwatch.dk/index.php?id=54&option=com_content&task=view)