Africa: Ghana waste dump poses health, environmental 'crisis'

A smoldering mountain of trash overlooking the Ghanaian capital. For decades, the Agbogbloshie dumpsite has been overflowing into the nearby lagoon and the informal dwellings surrounding Accra. Every day, local workers come to explore its entrails in search of precious pieces of scrap metal. At this stage they are copper Our scrap is our good bread A dangerous activity for these scrap dealers, who work without gloves, masks or any other protection against the toxic and chemical substances they inhale. Recyclers may mainly be exposed to chemical toxic substances like all the heavy metals we can talk about. They can be exposed to faecal matter. They can be exposed to some aerosols. They can also experience There are sharp injuries due to needles and other things in the waste. An environmental and health issue that's not only caused by electronic waste. According to a recent study by Greenpeace, over a hundred thousand tons of used clothing are shipped to Ghana each year, nearly half of which ends up being thrown away and burned. We're talking about, you know, 15 million articles of clothing coming to Ghana every week. And the traders we spoke to alluded to the fact that between 40 and 50 percent of that is usually textile waste. In September, President John Mahama launched an official cleanup campaign in Agbo Bloshi. Since then, excavators have begun hauling massive piles of garbage to a nearby landfill, where the government says it's being disposed of according to strict environmental guidelines.